Hunting the Shadows
by LazyApples
Summary: Under Tsunade's guidance, Sakura and her team get assigned their first mission after graduating from Hunter Academy, a place where Konoha's young adults learn to fight off supernatural creatures. Turns out, their mission is more than they bargained for, and when presumed-to-be-dead Sasuke Uchiha shows up and takes Sakura away from her team, all bets are off the table. Vamp-Fic AU
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hello! I'm sure many of you are probably like "Another one? Why don't you just finish one stupid story already!?" I know, I hear ya. I am thinking the same dang thing. But, I have hopes this go around. Pay close attention to my updates as I'm planning on uploading more stories that have all been wips for some time now. The plan is to finish ALL of them. Yes, you heard me right. I will be giving updates on the regular for multiple stories of mine. I am excited about them all, so I hope that you are, too. And yes, for those of you who are big fans, I am including _Here We Are_ and _Bottling the Moon_ into the mix. They may get less updates, though, just a heads up! _We Are Always Searching _and _Even Angels Fall_ are still on hiatus!**

**Follow my Pinterest page to see my writing inspirations. My username is also ARosySummer there, and the profile pic is the same!**

**And now, without further ado, on with the show!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or the cover art of Sasuke and Sakura, just this Fanfic plot!**

**CHAPTER 1**

"Sakura," a voice breathed out so quietly behind me, as if it could caress the back of my neck like a longing touch. "Until next time."

The voice overtook me, that silky, dark, alluring voice plagued me from the inside out, and there was no way for me to escape it.

xxx

My eyes blinked open, a dash of sunlight splashing over my face from the nearly closed curtains on the other side of my room. I groaned and rolled over on my side, facing the wall, keeping my eyes shut tight. I held onto the last remnants of sleep for as long as I could.

Even though that voice remained with me practically on a daily basis, there was nothing quite like reliving it in a dream. While I slept, it felt so incredibly real, as if I could just reach out and remember when it happened. Recall the instance in my life in which an individual spoke to me in such a manner.

But, nothing worked. The identity of the voice's owner always remained out of reach.

A groan escaped me as I sat up, pushing the blankets down before resting my feet on my bedroom floor.

I looked across the room into my full mirror. A shadow sat beneath both my emerald eyes, and my pink hair was an absolute disaster, sticking up this way and that.

I rubbed my face and then gave both cheeks a slap to wake me up. There wasn't any room today for me to dwell on that voice, I had a job to do.

Today was final exam day at the academy, the day which will set out the path for my hunter career.

I was finally going to be able to fight vampires, werewolves, and other monsters by going on missions.

And nothing, not even a sensual voice from my past, was going to stop me from fulfilling becoming the best hunter in history.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Follow my Pinterest page if you want to see my writing inspirations. My username is also ARosy Summer there, and the profile pic is the same!**

**And now, without further ado, on with the show!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, just this Fanfic plot!**

XXX

"Finally," Ino sighed. "It's all over."

Sitting at the counter of Ichiraku Ramen, Ino and I were waiting for our food to be ready. Behind the counter, all of the workers bustled over boiling pots and chopped a myriad of vegetables.

And all the while, a smile was plastered on my face. I couldn't believe it. It was Friday night, and all the finals were done. Over. Finished. Just this weekend stood between me and the training I craved to better myself.

Naruto plopped down on the stool next to me and ordered a pork ramen. Ino gave him an incredulous look and asked, "Naruto, what are you doing here?"

He looked at her like she had five heads. "I'm always here."

True. Ichiraku Ramen was the place Naruto could always be found at. If he wasn't at his tiny, messy apartment, he was here.

She rolled her eyes. "I mean what are you doing sitting with us?"

"Sakura's my friend, and I want to sit by her," he answered simply.

I couldn't believe he was being so casual about it when before he didn't want Ino to know at all. Turning to Ino, I saw her features adorn a look of utter shock.

"What's he talking about?" she asked me.

I shrugged my shoulders. "We hang out sometimes."

"Sakura helped me study a lot," Naruto confessed.

I whipped my head around to stare at him incredulously. Was he _serious_?

"Why were you so hell-bent on keeping our studying sessions a complete secret and then now you just go and confess to them all nonchalant!" The freaking idiot made life so difficult for me by sneaking around and being so careful to make sure that Ino and most of the others in our class were totally clueless about our situation.

He turned to give me a look and sneered at me. My instincts kicked in, adrenaline suddenly pumping throughout my body. This wasn't Naruto.

My body acted on its own, jumping off the stool, feet skidding across the ground. Ino was up a second after me, obviously noting something to be off as well.

"Who are you?" I ordered.

The fake Naruto gave a cold chuckle and in a flash had a small dagger held at his side. He eyed me up and down, assessing me as a predator looking over its prey.

"Ah-ah," fake Naruto waggled a finger in my direction. "There's no fun in that."

And then he attacked.

My own dagger met his instantly, the clash ringing through my ears. As in all my spars I'd had at the Academy, a wave of calm rushed over me and I let my body take over. My muscles were trained for this. I was going to find out who this was no matter what.

Ino waste no time in countering from the side. She had taken out a pair of daggers and attacked with both. Fake Naruto jumped back and started running away, down the street and passed all the pedestrians taking an afternoon walk.

Ino and I took off after him, the wind whipping my hair furiously, but I paid it no mind. This enemy obviously knew where he was going, he wasn't fumbling around a city he was unfamiliar with. No, he knew the lay of the land and that really pissed me off. How long has he been in the village? How long has the guard allowed a complete ill-intended stranger into our home?

He took a sharp turn to the left up ahead, and I knew exactly where he was heading. To my favorite training site.

Ino called out to me, giving me the signal that she would go around and try to cut him off as I pursued him this way. I nodded and faced forward again. I broke through a slight lining of trees before bursting into an open field. Fake Naruto was standing smack in the middle, looking at me with a hungry expression.

"Why are you here?" I seethed out, holding out the dagger in front of my and mentally cursed that I hadn't been more prepared. Stuck with such a small weapon against who knows what kind of monster.

The smile he made was mocking and somewhat familiar, but I didn't have time to analyze it further as he made a full on sprint in my direction. I stood my ground and threw the knife, the weapon slicing through the air with confidence straight for his head. He ducked to the right easily, giving me just enough time to slam my fist into his face. The crunch of bone filled me with pleasure, and I reared my fist back to slam it into the same spot a second time, but I didn't connect.

He flipped back before the second attack landing, holding onto his bloodied nose. He looked pissed.

I charged, preparing to kick his legs out from under him. Ino showed up, swiftly making to attack him from the back. I couldn't help but smirk, this was our favorite tag-team move. Everyone at the Academy hated us for it.

With a snap, fake Naruto fixed his nose and moved away so quickly that my eyes didn't even register that he was gone before I collided into Ino.

We both let out a groan, but rose to our feets quickly. Scanning the area, I could no longer see any sight of the enemy.

"Ino, use your-"

And I was hit by the side. I snarled in fury, trying to grab ahold of the fake Naruto to push him off of me. I couldn't quite latch onto anything in time before he had me pinned to the ground. He manacled both of my wrists above my head with one of his hands and smirked down at me.

Slowly, his face began to morph. Naurto's features faded away to make room for long pastel blonde hair, honey colored eyes and a smug smirk that I could recognize anywhere.

"Ugh, Tsunade! What are you doing?" I bucked my hips to get my older sister off of me, but she wouldn't move an inch.

Ino ran over to us and stared in shock at the scene that unfolded before her. I glared up at her, silently begging for her to help me. She just wouldn't take her eyes off of Tsunade though to see me.

"Welcome to training, Sakura," Tsunade cooed. Her eyes lit up in pure enjoyment at the words.

No.

No, no, no, no.

No.

This wasn't real.

"Are you saying what I think you're saying?" I asked in disbelief.

She finally got off of me and stood up, her hands situated low on her hips. "You're looking at your Hunter Captain. Time to show some respect, Sakura."

XXX

I slammed the door shut behind me so furiously that I wouldn't be surprised if I cracked the surrounding wood from the impact. My mom rushed out of the kitchen at the sound, but I kept my pace as I flew by her.

"Sakura?" she called worriedly.

I slammed the door again, this time I was in my own room. I twisted the lock so mom couldn't come in and plopped down face first onto my bed. The pillow engulfed my face, and I balled my hands into tight fists.

My breathing came sporadically and I could do nothing to calm it. My mind was going in every which way, making it impossible for me to grasp onto any singular thought. Well...all but one.

Tsunade was my Hunter Captain. How was that fair? How could the Academy do this to me?

I have been a good student, the best. And I'm rewarded like this?

Total and utter betrayal!

"Sakura, dear," mom called through the door, her voice muffled from the barrier separating us. "What's wrong?"

The door wobbled, she must be trying to get in. Rather than answering, I buried my face further into my pillow, pulling the sides up to cover my ears.

There had to be a mistake. Someone made a mistake. This couldn't be right.

I flung off my bed and opened my window up wide, a slight breeze blew in to make my curtains dance. It was easy to slip through and plant my feet on the roof. I puffed a loose hair out of my eyes and jumped down to the ground effortlessly. My body shoved forward in my eagerness to get to the Academy.

Friday night, Schmiday night. Someone would be there and they were going to give me answers.

The night was approaching, some stars began to twinkle up above. Street lights flickered to life around me, my shadow moving swiftly on the sidewalk below as I passed under them. People gave me strange looks, but I paid them no mind.

The doors eventually came into view, making me slow down into a brisk walking pace. I took a deep breath, trying to calm my racing heart, but it didn't work. My heart was working harder at the anxiety over Tsunade being my teacher for who knew how long rather than the short sprint I'd taken down the streets of Konoha.

Being in the Academy at night was a bit disconcerting, though I wasn't afraid. I was taught to be calm in the night, most of my work would eventually be done being surrounded by blackness after all. I better get used to it.

I ran my hand over the lockers to my right, my fingers moving up and down over the grooves in the metal infrastructures. My footsteps echoed around me in the empty halls, and I took comfort in them being the only ones I heard.

Eventually, I made my way to the Hokage's office. Along with overseeing the day to day activities of the Academy, the Hokage was in charge of the entire village. It was a big job, and I respected it. So, in his infinite wisdom, why, oh why, could he have okayed this?

The light was on underneath the doorway, so I knew he'd be in there. I knocked and entered when I heard him mumble "Come in."

He sat behind a desk littered with stacks of papers, some almost a few feet high. Kakashi was a simple man, who didn't partake in many personal hobbies, aside from reading. He was a sucker for cheesy romances, and I couldn't help but snicker at the sight of one propped open upside down in front of him.

"Ah, Sakura," he called calmly. "To what do I owe this visit?"

I looked him over. His grey hair was spiked up and to the side a bit, possibly from sleeping on the same side of his face too much at his desk during late nights. His eyes crinkled in amusement at the sight of me, and he extended a fingerless gloved hand in the direction of one of the chairs in front of him.

I took a few steps nearer, but didn't take a seat. "How could you?" I seethed.

"How could I what?" he asked innocently.

"Don't play dumb with me," I snapped.

He sighed. "I thought you and your sister were better?"

"What gave you that idea?" The words dripped from my mouth like venom.

"Tsunade gave me reason to believe that this would be a good thing." Kakashi's voice painted him as puzzled. The look he gave me a few seconds later only confirmed this.

Well, that was news to me. "What?"

"She was so happy when I said I would let her be your Captain," he explained. "I've actually never seen her happier."

I crossed my arms over my chest. "Yeah, she's happy she'll be able to torture me."

Kakashi leveled me with a look. It was one of those rare moments when I could actually see him as an authority figure. Usually he acted so care-free. But now, he looked as if he was staring death in the face. Maybe he was, maybe he finally grasped how ready to kill I was.

A snarl escaped my lips. "Did you know she attacked me in the middle of the village? With people all around us?!"

Kakashi nodded. "You weren't in any real danger. She already cleared it with me."

"In what world is that a _good_ idea?"

Kakashi laced his fingers together and rested his chin over them. His expression was more tranquil now, though his eyes still held onto a bit of the bite they had just moments ago.

"Sakura, you won't be getting another teacher. Deal with it." His order was absolute, the finality in his voice was something that would haunt me for the rest of my miserable life, I just knew it. "Your sister is amazingly talented, you can learn a lot from her."

I worried at my bottom lip angrily. Hot tears began to form at the corners of my eyes, something that often happened when I was angry. I opened my eyes wider to keep them from falling.

"Shoo, go home. Rest up this weekend because afterward, the real work begins." His hands waved me away, willing me to go out the door I came in.

I begrudgingly listened, and painstakingly held onto the stubborn will to not shed tears. Even if no one was going to see, I would still know that Tsunade made me cry.

And that was something I would not, could not, tolerate.

Before I couldn't wait for Monday to come, to be assigned a Captain and go on missions. I scoffed at my idiocy at thinking that everything would be like I pictured it would. Apparently, the universe felt like my journey was meant to be a torturous one, one where I had to face a lot of demons in order to grow.

And by all of my demons, I wasn't referring to the vampires or werewolves and the like. No, my sister and I had a lot to go through. And I wasn't going to let her knock me around. I wasn't the same helpless girl she thought I was.

My hands clenched into fists. I was going to show her I was better. I'll be the better fighter, the smarter Hunter, the best. One day, I'll be able to rub Tsunade's face in it.

I was going to prove her wrong. And she would be the one to resent me for my strength this time.

**xxx**

**A/N: Just a quick note here about Tsunade's age in this story. Imagine that she's in her mid to late 20s! This is the link to the pic that I imagine her to look like when she's in this story (minus the lacy dress...She's in regular combat clothes in my story): Type in deviantart dot com AND THEN PASTE THIS AFTER IT: /****instantmiso/art/CM-Sakura9283-516084876**

**JEEZ it is so freaking hard to get a link onto FF, such a pain.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

XXX

"Outta the way, move it!" Naruto's voice was the first thing I heard upon rounding the corner. A crowd of my peers was gathered at the front of the school, all looking at a large board displaying the names of our teammates and the Hunter Captains assigned to teach them.

I had been tempted to not show up since I already (resentfully) knew who my teacher was going to be. But, I thought better of it because I wanted to see who my team would be. At least I was still excited to see that.

"YES!" Naruto's fist shot into the air in victory. He pushed out from the crowd, his eyes scanning the area until they landed on me. He raced over and I couldn't stop the hug from happening. "Sakura, we're teammates!"

That was a bit surprising. The odds for that to happen were very slim. My smile spread out over my face at that bit of luck that seemed to take place.

"That's great!' I cheered. "Who else are we with?"

Naruto's smile disappeared and he scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "I was so excited to see your name with mine that I didn't pay attention to the other two."

I rolled my eyes as per usual when with Naruto, and began elbowing my way through the crowd. I finally made my way to the front and scanned the names. I couldn't help but sneer at Tsunade's name before following down the line.

Naruto Uzumaki

Sakura Haruno

Ino Yamanaka

Sai

"Ino!" I yelled in pure joy just as someone wrapped me in a hug. Blonde hair swung into view and I knew it was my best friend who was holding me.

"Sakura!" she cried out and started jumping up and down. "I can't believe it!"

I wrapped my arms around her as well and joined in on her excited jumping. I couldn't believe it either. I had both my friends with me on my team. I don't think anyone else could have had such a great occurrence.

We were shoved out of the way from those eager to see their own names. When we were on the fringe of the crowd, Naruto jogged up to us.

"Hey there, partners."

Ino stopped smiling just a bit at the sight of him, though I had no doubt that they'd be able to become friends. Honestly, they had such similar personalities, it was ridiculous that they weren't already.

Although, now that I think about it, Ino might be remembering when we were attacked by Tsunade pretending to be Naruto...

"Who's Sai?" Naruto asked us. I turned my head to look for him, but couldn't spot him among the crowd of excited hunters.

"I've never actually talked to him before, and he's fairly new to our program. I think he transferred here from Suna or something," I answered.

Sai wasn't one for many words. I was actually having a hard time remembering what his voice even sounded like at the moment.

A hand clapped down on my shoulder and I begrudgingly looked to its owner. Tsunade stood beside me with the most devilish smirk I've ever seen her give me.

"Hello, students." She tossed one of her long pigtails over her shoulder so that it swung freely against her back. "I brought the last of you," she said and gestured to a tall, pale guy standing next to her. He had short black hair and eyes as dark as the night. Honestly, if I didn't know any better, I'd say he looked just like a vampire. No wonder passersby were giving him scrutinizing glances.

"Hello," he said innocently enough. "I am looking forward to getting to know you all better."

His smile didn't reach his eyes, though sincerity seemed to ring through his every word. I would give him the benefit of the doubt.

"Hi, I'm Sakura." I gave him a warm smile, though I could feel my eyebrow twitching in annoyance at the fact that Tsunade hadn't dropped her hand from my shoulder.

"Naruto Uzumaki." Naruto gave him a big grin and jabbed his thumb at his own chest. I wanted to laugh at the two males on our team. Like night and day, really.

"And my name is Ino Yamanaka," Ino chimed in last, her voice as lovely as a bell.

Silence fell over our little group until Tsunade spoke up. "I'm Tsunade, and I'll be your Captain for as long as your novice hunters."

She eyed each of us in turn. "Your first task is to meet at Training Ground Three at noon. See you then." She disappeared so quickly, quicker than I thought it was possible for a human to even move.

I grumbled under my breath and Ino flicked my nose.

"Hey now, missy. I know it'll be hard for you, but try to look on the bright side."

"What bright side?"

"You're not alone with her, you have us."

I looked up and Ino was smiling, although her glances at the other two were a little uncertain. She was right, I had teammates. We were in this together.

I nodded my head and a smile slid onto my lips. I leaned in closer to the three of them and threw my arms around to bring them all in closer for a group hug.

"Together!" I shouted and squeezed them tighter.

Sai looked absolutely and horrifyingly uncomfortable, but he didn't try to pull away. Naruto followed my lead and wrapped his arms as best he could around our little huddle, with Ino copying soon afterwards.

"Together," the two of them repeated eagerly while Sai remained silent.

Such a cheesy moment, but I loved it.

Noon came sooner than I thought it would, expecting the day to drag by instead. Ino stayed with me throughout the morning. Mostly we sharpened our weapons and got our arsenal ready just in case Tsunade planned to throw anything at us like before. This time, though, we would be ready.

I smiled to myself when I felt the familiar sheathe of my chokuto on my right hip, held in place by a long black cloth wrapped around me numerous times. By far it was my most reliable weapon I owned, and I was the most comfortable with it. It was no wooden stake, but beheading a vampire could get the job done just as easily.

Beside me as we approached the designated meeting spot, Ino patted her bag of throwing stars set on her left thigh. Her favorite weapon was a long knife, just about the length of her forearm. She had one strapped to the side of each of her calves, hidden beneath her tall black boots.

We filed in. Ino and I weren't the first to arrive. Sai was sitting on the ground, leaning up against a tree looking at the clouds overhead. He had a daydreaming expression on his face, and I felt bad about breaking his focus when we walked closer to him. Instantly, he became uncomfortable by our presence.

"Sorry to surprise you," I said in greeting. "What were you thinking about?" I couldn't contain my curiosity.

Ino slapped my arm. "Sakura, that's so rude!"

I gave Ino a glare and then Sai a sheepish grin. "I don't mean to be rude. I just can't stop myself from speaking my mind sometimes."

Sai stood up and gave a small, uncertain smile. His voice came out even as he said, "I'd much rather prefer people spoke their minds anyway as I have a hard time understanding people."

Ino gave him a confused look, cocking her head to the side. "Why do you have trouble with it?"

Sai looked at her thoughtfully and then back to the sky. "It's a long story. One I'm not sure you'd like."

It was so strange, the way he spoke. I could tell that it saddened him, and yet he still had a smile on his face. Everything about him was juxtaposing.

"What-" I started to say.

"Sakura!" Naruto bumbled upon our little gathering. As he reached us, he bent over at his waist, his hands resting on his knees as he gasped for breath. "Whew, made it. I don't wanna know what Tsunade would have done to me if I was late for our first meeting!"

I thumped my fist on the top of his head. "Knucklehead. Have you been spacing out all morning or what? You cut it really close."

"I just couldn't decide!" he whined and held up a small knife in one hand and then a few smoke bombs in his other hand. "I didn't know which one to bring."

"Well," Ino inserted, "you brought both of them."

Naruto looked at his hands dumbly, back and forth. He let out a nervous laugh, but before anything else could be spoken, Tsunade made a sudden appearance on a nearby tree branch. Her loose white jacket flowing in the slight breeze as she looked down at us.

"Time for your first lesson," she asserted, her arms crossed in front of her chest. "You're going to spar each other."

We all stared up at her with blank expressions.

"We sparred all the time at the Academy. Why would this be any different?" Naruto asked.

"In order to go on missions and being able to assign you all tasks, I need to be able to see your capabilities." She smiled down at us. "So, show me what you're made of."

We all glanced at one another. Not really sizing each other up, but just seeing that we were all just as uncertain about this task.

"Last one left standing," Tsunade said. "Gets to have a big role in our first mission." She held up a plain manilla folder, my eyes immediately locking onto it.

"What's the mission?" I asked, the folder still holding all my focus.

"You have to earn that knowledge first," she explained.

I tensed, my back going straight in an instant. Looking back at the other three, I could see that they were starting to feel as I felt, ready to pounce and yet still unsure.

"Well, go on then. Get started." Tsunade gave a gesture to the middle of the field. "Or I'm going to start it. And you don't want that."

Ino paled at her words, and looked downright scared of her. I rolled my eyes at the dramatics and turned my back on Tsunade, walking towards where she had gestured.

When I got far enough away, I turned around, my hand lazily hanging over the hilt of my favorite chokuto.

"Let's go," I ground out between my teeth. I had no problem throwing down with any of them in order to get more experience on the mission. Any advantage to training I could get, I was going to take.

The others took up positions similar to mine, and then Tsunade started to count down.

"Only one thing: no fatal wounds. Can't have you dying on me day one." She sounded absolutely ecstatic that she could boss us around like this. "Three, two, one. Go!"

A presence came over me and I dodged to the right, barely missing an attack made by Sai. His fist hitting the ground where I'd been.

I shot my boot out at him, connecting with his cheek, causing his head to whip to his left. He wasted no time in sticking a short sword into the ground and using it to swing back around at me, aiming a kick that would hit my gut. I brought around the sheath of my chokuto and blocked his kick with it.

He took my stalling as opportunity to jump back and reassess me. I could see it in his eyes that this wasn't an expectation he had; he thought I was going to be some easy take-down to check off from his list first. I guess he hadn't heard anything people said about me at the Academy.

A loud sound came from my right, and I glanced over for a second to see Naruto and Ino clashing knife against knife. Ino let out a low kick at Naruto's legs, but he jumped over her sweep, which made her off balance. He lashed out with his boot then and landed a kick square to her jaw.

Her head snapped in my direction and the state of shock running over her features was a bit amusing. She was going to learn how capable Naruto was in a fight now that he graduated.

Pain prickled at my left thigh. Looking down I saw a short dagger embedded into it.

"Fuck." I knew better than to take my eyes off the enemy. How could I be so careless? I ripped the dagger from my leg and threw it straight at his face. He tilted his shoulder back and leaned over a bit to avoid the weapon.

He rushed at me head on then, throwing punches and kicks at me. I ducked and dodged and threw my own attacks at him. The two of us were a whirlwind of aggression, neither one giving an inch over to the other. It became more and more frustrating that I wasn't able to find an opening.

In my impatience, I unsheathed my chokuto and swung it at him. He blocked with a knife but his feet dragged in the dirt a few inches from the strength of my impact.

I let out an impatient growl without meaning to, and he raised his eyebrows at me in question.

And then I was knocked down from a kick to my right. My side hissed in pain, and I saw a flash of blonde fill my vision before I rolled to the right and jumped to my feet.

I knew that it would be Naruto's blonde hair and not Ino's the moment he attacked me. Ino would have worked with me against Sai. Naruto had just as much to prove against me as he had when fighting with Ino. No doubt he wanted to prove himself better than his mentor, just as I wanted to do with Tsunade.

Naruto grinned at me for a brief second before Sai punched him on his right cheek. The idiot didn't see it coming because his eyes were solely on me. The hit caused Naruto to spin around and then when he came all the way around, Sai punched him in his stomach.

And Naruto was down. I had no idea what other injuries he'd sustained from his fight with Ino, but I just couldn't believe that it took two punches from Sai to render Naruto unconscious.

Sai paid little attention to Naruto as he moved to the side of his fallen form and came at me again.

We went at it for a long time, sweat pouring down my face as I continuously threw and dodged punches. Fighting with fists was my specialty, and I was upset that Sai was just as adept at it as I was.

Who was this guy? If he was this good then why haven't I heard more about him at school?

From fighting for so long, my mind began to fog up. I let my body respond to his movements automatically, not particularly thinking before I made an attack.

Without seeing it, his hand passed my guard and grabbed the back of my head, pushing it down to meet his incoming knee.

The crunch of my nose rang through my ears and blood spurted from it instantly. My eyes were opened wide in shock, so I saw Sai's punch collide with my stomach before falling backwards and landing on my back.

He was straddling me in an instant, much like the way Tsunade had done a few days ago. After my initial shock, I glared up at him. His unwavering eyes met mine and didn't look away.

"Enough!" Tsunade's voice rang clear throughout the field. It didn't make me stop struggling.

"Enough, Sakura," she commanded, her voice closer this time. Her face eventually came into my view and I switched my glare from Sai to her instead.

"You were bested," was all she said to me. She gave Sai a nod and he got off of me, standing just a few feet away looking very timid.

What the hell was that about?

"What's with you?" I yelled at him, standing up in a rage. My head pounded against the quick motion, and more blood dribbled down over my lips and down my chin. I brought my hand up and snapped my nose back into place. The loud crack brought on more pain, but I fought against the black splotches it created in my vision to hold my gaze with his.

He bowed his head. "I'm sorry for causing you such pain."

What a bunch of-

"Sakura," Ino's voice chided. She walked over to us looking a bit worn, slowly recovering from her fight against Naruto. "We were all fighting. No need to take it out on him."

I knew she was right, but it still pissed me off that I lost. And there he was, standing there like it meant nothing to him, just a walk in the park.

"Nice work, Sai," Tsunade congratulated. "You'll be getting the extra assignment on your first group mission."

"What is it, what is it?" Naruto asked as he appeared out of nowhere. A grin adorning his features, the loss of the group spar completely gone from his mind it seemed.

Tsunade opened the manilla folder up and distributed the stapled sheets to each of us. When I got my hands on my stack, I scoured its contents.

**Overview:**

**A small village called Fumaren has been experiencing unexplained absences of residents. So far, there are ten people missing, and the local authorities are no closer to understanding what is happening. **

**Mission:**

**Travel to the border of Fire and River Countries to Fumaren. Find out why residents are going missing. If they are still alive, retrieve them and bring them back to their village. **

The rest of the small packet was a dossier of the people who have gone missing, people who we need to get into contact with when we get to the village, and then more of the like.

I looked up after I was done leafing through the stack. I would read it more in-depth later tonight, no doubt that I wouldn't be able to sleep as much as I should.

"I've never heard of Fumaren," Naruto offered over the group's silence.

"It's not particularly big, I've only been there once before, but it was only in passing," Tsunade explained, very businesslike. In that moment, I forgot she was my sister and hung onto her every word. I wanted more information on this place.

"What's the population size?" I asked.

"I'd say it's around ten thousand or so," she mulled aloud. "Pretty tiny compared to our lovely Konoha."

I took the number and ran it through my head. Konoha had a population of around 100,000. Going to a place this small was going to be very interesting. I'd never stepped foot out of the village before, so the excitement of the journey began to bubble through my veins.

I glanced over at Ino and saw that she was smiling nervously. Our previous conversation on her worry of dying crossed my mind. I was bitter about thinking this, but Tsunade wouldn't let any of us die. Though I was suspicious enough to think she would let me suffer a bit before she saved me.

Not that I would need any saving anyway. I scoffed at the thought of needing rescuing.

Regardless...I would have to talk to Ino some more when we were alone. I wanted her to feel reassured that everything would be okay.

"All right, come here and let me heal your injuries." Just one more thing for Tsunade to boast about, she was the best healer among hunters. I wanted to improve greatly in that area, and I knew that one day I would have to swallow my pride and ask her to teach me. But, that day wouldn't be today.

She healed everyone's cuts, and when she worked on my leg and nose, an odd look filled her expression. "Rest up you lot," she said after I was back to normal. "We leave at dawn tomorrow." Tsunade then turned her back on us and sauntered away, one hand up as she waved goodbye.

I waited until she was out of earshot and whipped around to Sai.

"How are you so good? Why haven't I heard of your skills before?" I accused, close to grabbing him by the front of his shirt.

Sai gave me a reproachful look, obviously wanting to back away from me. Ino ran in front of him and waved her arms.

"I think you're mad for the wrong reason, Sakura," she chided. "I mean, don't get me wrong, I completely understand." She looked to Naruto then with utter disbelief in her eyes. "I know how you feel. How the hell did Naruto Uzumaki beat me? Where did _that_ come from?"

Naruto sombered at her remark. "All my life everyone's told me I wasn't good enough, that I wouldn't amount to anything. Not anymore. You can't say that about me, I'm going to be untouchable one day!"

I rolled my eyes and slapped Naruto in the arm. "Yes, Naruto has been hiding his skills so that he could shock everyone later. I know why he hid his fighting ability," I reasoned. Looking at Sai, I said, "But, I don't know why you hid yours."

His head tilted down in defeat. "I really want you all to like me." His voice was soft, edged with just a tinge of fear. "I'm sorry that I caused the opposite reaction." He unstrapped a small pack from the back of his belt and knelt to the ground. He ruffled through some supplies for a bit before he took out a piece of cloth. He handed it to me wordlessly, and I hesitated before taking it.

I had forgotten all about my bloodied nose. Seems silly that I would forget such a thing. I brought the cloth up to wipe the blood off my upper lip and down my chin. Some of it had already begun to crust and wouldn't come off without water. I probably looked utterly ridiculous and in need of a hot bath.

My hands fell to rest on my hips, my right one gripping the slightly bloodied cloth tightly between my fingers, and my toes bounced in my boot up and down on the dirt.

I studied Sai. What could he be hiding? It was obvious that he didn't want us to know something about him, and I wanted to know what it was.

"What's your last name?" I asked, the memory of our names listed up on the board flashed behind my closed eyes. All of our names were up there, complete for the world to see. Except his.

His eyes closed for the briefest of seconds. When he opened them, he was looking anywhere but at my face. "Uchiha."

Ino gasped at the instant recognition, and I couldn't stop my eyes from widening in shock.

"Uchiha? As in _the _Uchiha Clan?" Ino's voice trembled. I knew what she was thinking about. The one novice hunter who was killed many years ago, the one person who gave her a sense of fear when it came to Captains protecting their team.

Sasuke Uchiha.

XXX

**A/N: Sorry if it's weird for you to picture Sai being an Uchiha! Or Tsunade being Sakura's sister XD Let's just go with it, shall we? Sai at least semi-looks like an Uchiha. :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

XXX

"What are you thinking?" Ino said as we crossed the threshold into my room. I closed the door, not wanting our conversation to float out into the hallway.

I thought on it only briefly to have come to the conclusion that I wanted to know more about Sai's history. I only knew so much that was in the history books. Sai should know so much more, and hopefully I would be able to pull it out of him at some point.

Sasuke Uchiha. The name alone practically sent shivers down my spine. I remember his picture well, his dark hair was just a bit longer in the front than it was in the back, which had a spikier look to it. And his eyes, his eyes were a dark abyss that sucked me in. He was the most handsome hunter I'd ever seen.

When I was younger, I'd stare at that picture in my school book for hours, like a crazed girl in love. I hadn't been able to fully grasp the insane concept that I had a crush on a dead man.

I paced to my bookshelf, my fingers dancing across the familiar titles. I stopped when I got to the one at which I'd been looking.

The spine audibly cracked as I opened it, from years of sitting on the shelf without any action. The pages shuffles quickly under my fingers, my eyes scanning back and forth searching for the familiar picture I could see clearly in my mind.

I accidentally flipped past it by a few pages, so I quickly backtracked to the correct spot. Just as I remembered it, Sasuke Uchiha's picture stared up at me with unflinching brutality. His dark eyes captivating mine wholly.

I ran my fingers over his picture and rested them just to the left of the picture's caption.

_Sasuke Uchiha. B. 1822. D. 1845. Cause of death: Killed alongside his parents by his brother, Itachi Uchiha. _

I set the book down on my bed and Ino leaned over to take a look. She began reading aloud the passage I memorized long ago.

"One of the most gruesome hunter stories has to be that of the Uchiha clan. In the clan, there was a family of four: Fugaku Uchiha (B. 1805. D. 1857), Mikoto Uchiha (B. 1810. D. 1857), Itachi Uchiha (B. 1832. D. Unknown), and Sasuke Uchiha (B. 1837. D. 1857)."

She paused then in her reading, and I took that opportunity to look over the other pictures on the page. They were of the other members in the family. Fugaku, the strict looking father, Mikoto, the warm and caring looking mother, and Itachi, the stern looking older brother.

"Fugaku Uchiha of the Uchiha clan was a prominent hunter in Konoha. He married fellow hunter Mikoto and together they had two sons, Itachi and Sasuke. Itachi quickly went through the ranks of hunters, graduating from the Academy at the age of 14 and became a Hunter Captain at age 19.

"On June 2, 1857, Itachi came home late at night and murdered his family in their sleep. A witness watched Itachi leave through a top floor window that night, never to return to the village."

That's it. That's all there was. I didn't bother turning the page because I had gone over this so many times before.

Such a short passage. Such a small little blip in our history, and yet it was absolutely terrifying. No one knew why Itachi murdered them all, and it continued to affect hunter's minds. Ino included.

But, it was so long ago. The tale was practically on the cusp of turning into a ghost story young kids told around campfires to scare each other. Just on the cusp of turning into a legend really.

"And Sai is an Uchiha," I murmured. "No wonder he was reluctant to tell us his last name."

No doubt, when people heard his last name, they instantly shunned him. The cursed Uchiha clan, that's what they called it. A highly skilled clan, and one that has kept quiet ever since that fated hour.

I too found that I wanted to get away from Sai. But, I wanted to learn more. I wanted more information. I grew up with this story, as it utterly fascinated me. And yet, the dangerous enigma of the Uchiha name was a scary thing to face.

"I want to switch teams." Ino was biting her lip so hard I wouldn't be surprised if it started bleeding soon. "I'm not comfortable with this."

I let out a sigh. "I know you're scared, Ino. But, honestly, this happened such a long time ago. Nothing is going to happen because Sai is on our team."

"You don't know that," Ino countered. "For all we know, Itachi could be a vampire, lurking somewhere in the shadows. Looking to knock off the rest of his entire clan!"

My face scrunched in confusion. "But, that doesn't make any sense. None of his immediate family were bitten. They were killed mortally, no sign of immortal behavior whatsoever."

"You know what, fine!" She threw her hands up in exasperation. "If we get murdered in the middle of the night, I'm blaming you."

"So kind of you," I responded cheekily.

The night passed as we dropped the Uchiha subject to focus more on our mission. Hours and hours went by, and I committed all the details to memory even when Ino passed out at the foot of my bed sometime past one in the morning.

Ino's snore broke me from my focus, and I looked back at the textbook we'd put away earlier. I bit my bottom lip before rising from the bed to get the book. Rather than sitting back on my bed, possibly jostling Ino back awake, I sat cross legged on the floor.

My heart pounded in my chest as I flipped through the pages. When I got to the right one, my eyes rested on the figure of Sasuke and then his brother, Itachi.

Sasuke's position wasn't all that different from what mine is right now.

An older sibling with high prestige in the hunter community. Just a few years younger, trying to prove ourselves to the world that we weren't to be overlooked. Truth be told, I busted into the student records office at the Academy a few years back, specifically looking for Itachi and Sasuke's records.

When I found them, I was highly impressed. Those two had to be the best students that Konoha Academy had ever seen. With Itachi being the youngest ever graduate, Sasuke wasn't that far behind when he graduated at 18 years old, two year earlier than normal.

Their grades were flawless, teacher's raved about them in reports. The two literally had no bad marks during their time in school.

So what had made Itachi snap like that?

It felt stupid for me to keep doubting the idea that Itachi was a vampire, but for there to be no vampire attack evidence on his family members...Well, it just didn't add up.

Itachi was out on a mission before he murdered his family. It wasn't a very long mission either, so if Itachi was a vampire he would be a young vampire. Young vampires are highly irrational, barely able to sate their bloodlust. With the blood spilled in the room, Itachi would have lost it and started biting everyone in sight.

That made me think that there was no possible way he could have been a vampire. He would have gone on a killing spree throughout the entire village if that was the case, not just stopping with three murders.

No, it had to be something else. Something that no one had thought of yet.

I shook my head trying to get it clear, but it didn't work.

Flashes of Tsunade came to mind. What if that happened to us? What if Tsunade snapped one day and came home to kill mom and me. I shuddered at the thought, goosebumps lining my forearms.

I closed the book suddenly, putting it back into place on the shelf, unable to lock eyes with the dead any longer.

What felt like two seconds later, Ino was shaking my shoulder to wake me up.

"Hey there, sleepy. Wakey, wakey," she cooed.

The room was still a bit dark. Outside the window, I could see that the sky was just beginning its metamorphosis into daytime.

"Why'd you sleep against the wall like that?" Ino asked. "Weirdo."

My body was stiff from sleeping so long in a strange position. I got up and rubbed at my behind and shook out my legs and arms for good measure. Slowly, my body was waking up, my mind not too far behind.

My eyes wavered to the book on the shelf, the spine staring up at me in all of its literary innocence. My breath came out a bit shaky before I pushed my feet to move in the direction of my closet. I took out a new outfit, one made for easy movement, and then walked a few steps to my bedroom door. I grabbed the bag I'd packed yesterday and slung it over my shoulder. Inside were a couple changes of clothes, various weapons, and then some books on magic I wasn't sure I'd need.

Ino had her bag slung across her back, and she was in a new set of clothes, ready to embark on our mission.

As my hand touched the handle for the front door, a wave of excitement passed through me. I was finally doing it, finally taking the first step in proving myself a successful hunter. And nobody, not even Tsunade, was going to ruin this for me.

Well, I could hope…

The journey to Fumaren was pretty noisy. Naruto just wouldn't shut up, his constant babbling seemed to wear on everyone's nerves but Sai's. Even though he was an idiot, he knew not to overly piss off the three female hunters of the group, so he talked Sai's ear off for most of the trip.

My body had been trained in many physical ventures. Sprinting, fighting, sleeping on the ground, but what I wasn't prepared for was all the walking.

It started out great, but then after half the day went by my feet were starting to feel it. A slow ache spread from my heels to the middle of my feet and then the ache shot up my calves. I didn't dare say a word about it, not wanting to look weak at all.

Naruto had no problem voicing his complaints.

"We almost there?" he asked. "I don't know how much more walking I can take. Can't we find some horses or something? A wagon maybe?"

Tsunade gave him a reproachful look. "Your body needs to be ready for an attack at any moment. You need to do more exercising if you're tired after walking for a handful of hours."

"Yeah, yeah, but are we close?" He wasn't assuaged by her reprimand. Rather, he looked at her with a hint of aggravation.

I shrugged my bag off of one arm and slung it onto my stomach. I produced my map, zipped the bag back up and looped my arm through the strap once more. We all kept walking as I undid the map to look, Naruto walked over next to me to take a look as well.

"We started here at Konoha," I said, pointing to the dot that was our home. "This is where we need to go." Now my finger hovered over Fumaren. "I'd say that we're somewhere around here." I pointed at a spot in between the two dots. "We seem to be walking at a three miles an hour pace. After walking for six hours, we should have travelled 18 miles. Fumaren is forty miles from Konoha. We should get there by nightfall if we keep this pace."

Out of the corner of my eye, Tsunade nodded. I brushed off the shocked expression she wore at my deduction. What did she think I was doing all these years instead of studying my head off?

Naruto looked forlorn. "Aw, jeez. That's so far from now."

I smacked him in the back of his head. "Idiot. Stop complaining. This is what we signed up for, you know."

"Sakura, carry me." The way he said it was like a command, no joking in his voice whatsoever.

"Idiot!" I repeated my favorite name for him. "I don't care if you start crawling, I'm not carrying you."

Sai struck his arm out to the side just at the same time Tsunade reached for a stake strapped to her hip.

Naruto and I shut up, and I instantly tensed, grabbing my own dagger. My fingers wrapped around it tightly, my blood ran cold around the grip. Normally I loved the way a weapon felt in my hand, the way it made me feel confident. Right now, I did not feel that familiar feeling. I was anxious, eyes darting all around us.

It took my mind a few seconds to catch up with the adrenaline. It was midday, the sun was shining down on us. I thought it odd for Tsunade to have taken out a stake rather than a regular dagger. Vampires don't come out during the day, they'd burst into flames if they came in contact with it.

"Afternoon," came a dry voice out of nowhere.

My head snapped to the left, and there stood a man with dark auburn hair, tousled from the wind. There were shadows beneath his eyes, making his face sallow and tired looking. Though, his light blue eyes were very aware, scanning the group of us meticulously.

I shifted my weight to accommodate a new defensive position. He wasn't a vampire, but there was no doubt he exuded a strange aura. He wore loose, black pants tucked into worn boots, and a red cloak that he pushed more towards his back, exposing a white shirt and black, fingerless gloves on both his hands.

"Gaara," Tsunade breathed out a sigh of relief. She lowered her stake, putting it back into place beside her hip. Her legs took her a few paces closer to the strange man. "Been a while."

"This is an interesting sight for you, Tsunade," he crooned, the words coming off his tongue slowly. He measured a look over the rest of us again, this time I wanted to shiver as his eyes raked over my body.

She shrugged, indifferent. "Something new. Shaking things up." She turned to us then, pointing to each of us in turn. "This is Ino, Sai, Naruto, and my sister Sakura."

He tipped his head slightly, making a slight bow in welcome to us. "Sorry to have frightened you."

My body relaxed, but I retained the grip on my dagger. The others mimicked my motions as well, finding safety in Tsunade's knowledge of this man.

"Gaara is a warlock," Tsunade explained. "He has helped me in a couple missions actually."

I've never met a warlock before. The instant curiosity took over my body. I wanted to know more about him.

From the books I'd meticulously studied and the lectures from my teachers, I knew that warlocks and witches were powerful beings. Some went bad, rogue, performing more dark magic than good. There were plenty of those, however, that held good relations with hunters, helping them out occasionally like Tsunade had said.

"You still on your mission from Suna?" Tsunade asked.

Suna, most famous for its vast deserts. Now that was one place I never wanted to go to. I could live without all the sand getting in my shoes. No thank you.

"I'm tracking the pack of vampires heading west of here."

Curiosity finally got the better of me, and I found my voice. "Why are you tracking them?"

He looked at me briefly, just a flicker of his eyes. "They took something."

My eyebrows rose at that. "You won't say?"

His lips tightened into a thin line. "Correct." His gaze returned to Tsunade, recognizing her leadership over us. "I do not want word of what they have getting around. You understand."

She nodded. "How long have you been tracking them again?"

"Just about a week now."

No wonder the shadows under his eyes were so predominant.

"That's why you look like complete shit," Tsunade added to my thought without even knowing. "We're heading to Fumaren if you want company."

He was still for a moment before nodding, accepting her offer of companionship. She turned to us then, flashing us a bright, scheming smile. "Hope you're ready to run."

Beside me, Naruto whined. "Somebody needs to come up with a better way of getting to places," he grumbled.

Tsunade and Gaara led the pack of us, keeping a fast pace as we sped down the path. Eventually, the path pittered out and we were forced to take to the forest. We still moved quickly, though now we had to dodge trees and duck out of the way of stray branches looking to take us down.

I wanted to laugh when Naruto got a branch to the face, but I kept going, not wanting to be left behind.

From back here, I wasn't sure if Tsunade and Gaara were talking, and if they were it was done too quietly for me to hear anything anyway. I really wanted to know what item they took from him though. What could be so important that he didn't want others to know he no longer had it?

Or maybe it was the other way around. He didn't want others to know _who_ had it. Maybe that made all the difference in the world. Perhaps the item was completely harmless in the hands of a mortal, but when a vampire had it, the item's ability became unlocked.

My mind occupied itself by going through a list of magical items. I came up blank though when I tried to think of ones only vampires could use. As far as I knew there weren't any that existed. Unless, this item was kept out of the books, completely off the record.

I stared at Gaara's back. How powerful was he to have a magical weapon not marked in any book? What magic was he capable of?

"Staring is rude," his dull voice rang out through the quiet forest.

A blush settled on my cheeks, making my face heat up. Tsunade gave a chuckle at my discomfort.

"Gaara has fantastic awareness of his surroundings," she explained smugly.

I glared at the back of her head in return. And then something stopped my glare, catching sight of the stake at her hip brought back an earlier confusion.

"How come you took out your stake back there, Tsunade?" I asked. "Vampires don't come out during the day."

Rather than insulting my need to ask a question, she remained quiet. Trees continued to blur past us as I awaited her response.

From her left, Gaara sent her a warning look. And then it clicked.

"That has something to do with the item that's been taken from you," I deduced out loud. But, could that mean that with the item, vampires could now come out during the day? How would that even be possible?

Gaara stopped running to stand in front of me, effectively halting my own momentum. I stopped just in time before smacking right into his chest.

"You are not to repeat any of that," he seethed through clenched teeth.

It took all my will power to stand straight, to not back away or grab for a weapon. Over his shoulder, Tsunade had halted to look back at us. Although at first I thought her glare was pointed at me, but it was actually directed at the back of Gaara's head.

I stored that reaction in the recesses of my mind to dissect later when there wasn't an angry warlock in front of me. His eyes were still boring into my own with such will that I thought he was trying to use hypnotic powers or something to drive the fact that I should be quiet on the matter through me.

Steeling myself, I answered. "I won't."

He seemed unsatisfied by my tone, but turned around after a few seconds regardless.

I glared at his back when he started his fast pace running again. This time, he bypassed Tsunade to run ahead of the group on his own.

Tsunade gave me a reproachful look before saying, "All right, let's get a move on. We're almost there."

Naruto cheered, but the sound of his joy could barely be heard by the roaring wind of my own thoughts. The second we were clear of this Gaara, Tsunade was going to answer my questions one way or another.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

XXX

Fumaren was a small village. Looking down on it from atop a hill, I could see the entire expanse of the thing. It was mostly made up of tiny houses with slanted red roofs, and then sprinkled among those were the occasional multi-family buildings. Toward the center it seemed to have a few open areas, most likely a couple of parks.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Gaara take something small and round from his pocket. He held it in the palm of his hand, but I was unable to get a good look at it.

His eyebrows knitted together in frustration. "This is where I leave you. The pack I'm tracking isn't here."

"See you then," Tsunade said and nodded her head in farewell.

Gaara nodded and took off without another word, and thankfully without a glance in my direction. He wouldn't have been met with a friendly gaze anyway.

"Good riddance," I said when he was at the bottom of the hill, and he started curving around the outside of the village wall. The last view was of him dashing around the wall until it hid his figure from my eyes completely.

"Be nice," Ino voiced, her hands on her hips as she scolded me. The puppy look that she was eying where Gaara had last been visible gave away the fact that she only yelled at me because she was smitten with him.

"Ugh, Ino." I nudged her shoulder with my own. "Stop falling in love with every male you see."

She snapped her head around. "I do not!"

Sai interrupted us. "Should we find the Head of the Village now?" His monotone, yet happy, voice made me come back to the present.

Right, we had a mission.

"Yes," Tsunade answered. "Daishi is the man we're looking for. I trust you've memorized his picture from the mission folder I gave you all." She looked at each of us in turn to confirm this information, to which she was met with all nods. "Good. Let's go."

My questions for her would have to wait it seemed. Now that Gaara was gone, I could ask her what the object had been for which he was searching. But, Sai was right, we needed to find Daishi first and make a plan to settle things here with the vampires attacking Fumaren.

Then I would ask Tsunade.

Walking through the village was a bit surreal. I was so used to the busy streets of Konoha. In comparison, this place was like a ghost town. My shoulders would not relax no matter how hard I tried, and at irregular intervals I kept having to physically remember to breath.

Tsunade led us through the streets with an assured confidence. Turning this way and that with just a few street signs to signal where we were. With all the directional twisting, we finally pulled to a stop in front of a brick building. The outside exterior wasn't anything special, not very distinct from the surrounding buildings whatsoever. The only thing that stuck out on this one was a cloth banner hanging over the doorway with three painted white lines in the middle of it.

The door opened without any fight, and we filed through it one by one like a line of ants. We walked into a spacious room, adorned very minimally. Even without many items around, the aura surrounding us was very cozy and welcoming.

There was a young woman sitting behind a counter, and she looked up as soon as we reached her. She was mulling over a mess of papers, looking back and forth furiously between two sheets. Her face showed genuine confusion, like she was trying to solve a puzzle and couldn't even begin to fathom how an answer would appear to her.

Tsunade cleared her throat and knocked on the counter like one would a door. The sound of her knuckles rasping the wood tangled through the air and successfully disturbed the frazzled woman.

"Oh!" she uttered, her lower lip hanging open slightly as she took in the sight of us. "Sorry! I didn't see you…" Her voice trailed off at the end as she did a mental count of us. Five people was indeed a hard thing to not see coming.

I hoped to all hope that the rest of the village wasn't like her, because then no wonder so many people had gone missing. The vampires would have a field day picking them off one by one with that kind of obliviousness.

"You must be the hunters!" she said excitedly, her face lighting up instantly. She stood from her chair, which creaked against the floor in a scratchy way. "Daishi, they're here!" she exclaimed as she half ran to an open door behind and to the right of her desk.

The sound of a similar chair being pushed back alerted us at the arrival of Daishi, the Village Head. He was an older man, perhaps around the age of 50 or 60. His hair was a dark gray at the roots that grew lighter the farther they were from his head. And his mustache was bushy and grey as well.

"'Bout time you showed up!" he yelled, his eyes a frantic mess. "Come in here," he ordered and gestured with his head back into his office.

Tsunade gave us all a look that said "Talk and you will be punished."

Not wanting to get on her bad side, no matter how much I liked to press her buttons, I would stay quiet. I needed her to not be angry at me at all for when I'd talk to her later. She'd definitely be less inclined to offer any answers if I royally pissed her off beforehand.

Inside the tiny office, we were almost all standing shoulder to shoulder. Tsunade took the only seat that was settled in front of Daishi's desk, leaving the four of us to shuffle in awkwardly behind her.

Daishi splayed his hands out on his desk, a few fingers twitched with obvious annoyance. His face wasn't very welcoming, like I'd thought it would be. We were here to help, why was he being like this?

"I thought to expect you lot sooner," he accused.

Tsunade was the vision of utmost respect no matter his rudeness. "Very sorry for the delay. We left quickly after your request came in and have been traveling ever since." She bowed her head deeply as she sat.

He looked her over and waved a hand at her, dismissing her completely. "We have had too many deaths at the hands of these vermin. Can I trust you to fix the problem swiftly?"

Tsunade raised her head to look at him. "Yes, we will survey the area and take out the vampires killing your citizens."

"Then get, go!" He shooed us out as quickly as he'd forced us into his office.

Tsunade rose, turned to us and gestured for us to file out of the room. Sai was closest to the door, so he started our parade out of the place.

As we walked past the lady in the front room, she gave us apologetic looks and mouthed the word "Sorry" at us. Seemed like he was always this grumpy then if this woman looked so used to his behavior.

I huffed when the front building door closed behind us.

Ino crossed her arms over her chest. "What's up with him? He didn't have to be like that."

My thoughts exactly.

But, it took my by surprise when it was Naruto, _Naruto_, who answered. "Give the guy a break. His own people are dying and he can't do anything about it besides trust that some strangers will help." The usual hot-headed blonde was so serious. "As a leader, that must be very stressful."

"Well put," Tsunade agreed. "It is not our job to judge those we come in contact with on missions. It is our job to help them and restore peace in their worlds. We aren't getting paid to become best friends. Now let's do our job."

She brought us to a nearby park and took her bag from her back, laying it on the grass to open it. She took out personal radios for each of us. I took mine and looped it around my belt and shoved the earpiece in, securing it around the top of my ear. The others did the same, though Ino laughed a bit when Sai couldn't quite get the hang of securing the piece around his ear. She helped him finish the job though.

"These will help us communicate. I want you all to work in pairs, and I will be alone. If you run into trouble, call over the radio. Be as descriptive as you can about your location." She looked us over. "Sakura, Ino, you two pair off. And Sai and Naruto."

"What will we be doing?" Ino voiced.

"Tonight, we will be running border patrol outside the village. Keep in pairs but move around in your designated section." She brought out a map of the village and pointed out where we were to go. Ino and I were in charge of the north and west part of the border, Naruto and Sai got the south and east part. "I'll be keeping tabs all around. Periodically checking in with you all in person."

She closed her bag and slung it back over her shoulder. She pointed past us. "North." And then she brought her arm around in the complete opposite direction. "South. We don't rest until daylight hits the village."

Then it was back. That bubbly feeling nestling itself at the bottom of my stomach and slowly making its way up, up, up through the rest of me. This was it, I'd finally get to be a part of a real mission. No more travelling, no more talking. I'd get to do something. Keeping watch in and of itself was not something that sounded very excited, but there was always the prospect of fighting my very first vampire.

I turned to Ino and saw not quite the same look. In her eyes it was clear to see the nerves she held ever since the last days at our Academy. After confiding in me how scared she was of dying on a mission, I couldn't help but see a bit of fear in her eyes at every turn.

I wish she wouldn't think like that. I know this was a pretty fearful position to be in, but, seriously, there hasn't been a hunter death in so long. And on top of that, a Hunter Captain hasn't died in quite some time either. With the training and studying, we have become smarter than all hunters before us. She should be confident in her abilities.

The sun was setting, sinking lower and lower in the sky as it yawned to meet the horizon. The sky filled with hues of deep red, signalling the approaching dusk.

Tsunade spoke one last time. "All right. Be safe." Her eyes reached all of us, and when they landed on me they held for just a few seconds longer than the others. I would ask her about Gaara's item when she met up with us during the night. With that look in her eyes, I was sure that I would be able to talk with her about it. After all, I didn't know why I was seeing worry in them, but it wasn't a negative emotion projecting at me. That had to mean something good at least.

Running with Ino through the streets towards the north felt liberating. No villagers stepped out of the doors, most likely shut in for the night trying to stay as safe as possible with all the other disappearances. Even being locked up won't do any good though, vampires can enter a house at anytime unless they take the correct precautions.

I really hoped that they were all prepared.

My legs were aching when we came to the border. I leaned slightly against the village's outer wall to catch my breath. Ino undid her ponytail to redo it again, making sure every hair was in place rather than forming a wild halo that framed her face.

I righted myself after a few more deep breaths, though my legs still barked in protest as I made that initial step.

"What do you think the item was that Gaara is looking for?" Ino asked before I could broach the subject.

"I don't know!" I gushed. "I want to ask Tsunade about it. But, I think my previous deduction was correct, about it being able to let vampires come out during the daytime. Why else would he have gotten so defensive and creepy?"

She shivered. "Could you imagine what that would mean?"

Yes, I could. And none of it was good.

Thus far, hunters have had an easier time of fighting off vampires. Well, I shouldn't say easier. Just more...relaxed. Since vampires couldn't come out during the day, that meant that we could take that time to relax, to recuperate. hunters spent more of their waking hours during the night to combat vampires.

So now, if they were able to come out during the day as well...Well, we would lose our rest time. Every moment would be a problem for us. We'd have no idea when to be most vigilant, a constant worry of attack would always be at the back of our minds.

I have never heard of such an item existing before. And that was truly terrifying.

The terrain surrounding the village was mostly grass. Occasionally we'd run into a patch of dirt the size of a rain puddle. The forest was a long distance away, and mostly I could see hills stretch out beyond. If anything was coming, at least they wouldn't have the cover of the forest to launch a surprise attack.

I kept my hand to the wall for most of the walk, feeling the individual bumps and grooves of the structure. The cool stone kept me grounded in our continuously curving walk. Ino and I said very little as our attention was on our surroundings, on finding any minute changes in motion that we could see.

It came upon me slowly, but I had the feeling someone was watching us. Bumps crawled up my arms and I dropped my hand from the wall to look off into the distance.

Ino noticed that I stopped walking and stared back at me. "What is it?"

Her panicky voice didn't make me lose my focus. It was dark now, the only light coming from the lamps lit on the top of the wall, and they did not cast a very far reach.

So, just the inky blackness of a still night met my gaze. Something was out there though, I could feel it.

I lifted a finger to point in the direction that gave me the most chills. "There. Something's there."

Almost as if I'd summoned her somehow with those words, Tsunade appeared by my side. I hadn't heard her approach, so she startled me as she spoke.

"I feel it, too. Stay here while I check it out," she ordered. "Be ready if I radio."

She took off so fast the wind burst my hair everywhere. Her body was quickly swallowed by the night, no stars shown down far enough to make her out. The moon might've been able to had it been out tonight.

Seconds ticked by and we heard nothing but silence. The radio didn't even crackle.

I was about to go after her when she made a reappearance, her blonde hair swaying across her shoulders to settle at her back. Her lips were set in a thin line, showing off her irritation.

"Nothing. By the time I got over there, whatever it was had left."

I leaned over to look past her. The feeling of being watched was gone, but I doubt it'd be long before it came back again.

"Was it one of the vampires terrorizing the village?" Ino asked.

Tsunade shrugged. "Probably. And it was scared away for the time being. We may have to set a trap if they appear to be intelligent."

"Bait them out?" I asked.

"Exactly," she agreed.

Then a silence settled over us as we all looked towards the darkness. The longer I stared at it, the more I could feel it inch its way inside of me, wrapping me all up inside with its grip. It called to me, and I wanted to explore it. I wanted to reach out and hold it in my hand to examine it, to see what made it tick.

What brought me back to reality was Ino clucking her tongue.

"You okay?" she asked.

I nodded in answer, but it was Tsunade who I addressed next. "What item is Gaara trying to track down?" My voice came out dry and chalky, as if the words didn't want to make their way past my lips. I had been building this moment up in my head, getting excited for answers. I didn't want my hopes to be up for nothing.

And with just one disapproving look, Tsunade began to crumble my hope into a speck of dust. My shoulders slumped and I waited for her reprimand.

She took a deep breath before saying, "You were correct in your previous assessment, Sakura."

My mouth opened, jaw lined with astonishment. "What did you say?"

Her lip curled back in a completely unpleasant look. "Sakura," she admonished like I'd just said the most stupid thing in the world.

I folded my arms across my chest and moved passed her disappointment. "How is it that there's an item powerful enough to make a vampire capable of walking in the Sun and we haven't officially heard anything about it?" Never in school was this mentioned. Never had I heard Kakashi say it aloud.

Ino waited patiently beside me for an answer.

Tsunade sighed and ran a couple fingers through her blonde hair. Her hand dropped to rest over her lips, leveling the two of us with a serious expression.

"We walk and talk," she ordered, moving her legs to start the trek around the village wall.

We followed her, walking to the left as she held the position on the far right, the one farthest from the wall, and nearest to the darkness.

"Gaara has been working on this project only since quite recently," she started. "Only few know of his work. The device he's been working on is a Sun bomb, for lack of a better description. He's been trying to harness a miniscule amount of the Sun's power into a singular object. A new weapon to help us fend off vampires more easily and efficiently. Less hand to hand combat as it were."

Amazing, to be able to craft such a weapon must take immense power. I wonder if he had other witches and warlocks helping him to make more. How long would it take to make them?

"I'm not entirely sure how word got out about it to the vampires. Or how it came to be that they were able to get their hands on it. Regardless, it is not good, but I have faith that Gaara will be able to track them down and regain the item. He is more than capable."

I scrunched my nose in confusion. "How is it that the item will help them walk in the sunlight? From what you explained, the item should kill them, not aid them."

"Alone, the item would completely vaporize vampires in a second." She turned her head, scanning the dark line. "But there've been whispers as of late, whispers of a group of vampires obtaining an alliance with a powerful witch. There hasn't been any evidence in that, strictly just a rumor. Though I'm sure it's put Gaara on edge."

"And this witch…" Ino spoke up. "She is capable of using it for the vampires' gain?"

This put _me_ on edge. And I wasn't sure why Tsunade was't more worried about this. Why we didn't go with Gaara to help him recover the Sun bomb was beyond me.

"If the rumors are true, then the witch working with them is Karin Uzumaki."

Tsunade's voice rang through me. Now she was a witch I've heard of.

Karin Uzumaki, a dark witch, a constant thorn in hunter's sides. Mom told me once that Tsunade met up with Karin on a mission, and she made it very hard for Tsunade to complete said mission. Her spell work is second to none, and her knowledge of the world and its magical components is vast and makes her a hard witch to get a hold of.

It was also hard to believe that she and Naruto hailed from the same bloodline, albeit distantly. That was something I brought up to him when I first found out, and he didn't talk to me for a whole week. Sore subject and all.

"But, how would she be able to do it?" Ino asked.

Tsunade shook her head in disbelief. "I am not entirely sure of the process. But, Karin is known to perform reversal spells expertly. She is the only one alive that I know who is capable of such a feat."

"So, you're saying," I goaded her to answer more clearly.

"She will most likely take the Sun bomb and reverse its effects. Rather than the Sun's power destroying vampires, she will instill the power within them."

"Why is it that only Gaara is going after them then?" I finally asked my question. "This is something that needs to be stopped!"

"Do you take me for a fool, Sakura?" Tsunade asked, her words laced with a harshness that I was ready for. "Gaara is not alone. He has enlisted two hunters from Suna to help him already, he already has a team. Suna dispatched it as an official mission, he isn't just out and about on his own. He told me his companions were coming at the group of vampires from different angles."

"Just two hunters with him?" I asked. There should have been more assigned than that!

"I know both of them, and they are the best Suna has to offer," she explained. "And before you ask something else, let me remind you that we are also on a mission. We have been assigned to protect this village, to destroy the vampires picking off the innocent people one by one."

I looked down at the ground, biting my bottom lip. The worst part about it was Tsunade made me agree with her perspective. In all my hotheadedness, I overlooked our mission, I was ready to completely abandon it. I'm better than that. And yet…I want to go after Gaara and help. It's pulling me in two places, two places called to me. And I couldn't do it, I could only be in this one place, doing one mission.

It made me so angry that I was limited. I wasn't at the level of going after Sun bombs.

When will the day come when I can finally go on missions like that? When I could be the best hunter the world's ever seen? When would that day come, the day when I'd finally surpass Tsunade for good?

I could taste the blood on my tongue from my bit lip. The metal tang made my mind pause, made me focus on the wind rustling through my hair, the heat from a passing fire lamp on my skin. My senses took over, and I tried to let them. To forget this feeling of utter helplessness.

The numbness ebbed away though and I was forced to endure my own unforgiving mind for the rest of the night.

At some point in the night, Tsunade switched groups and went to find Naruto and Sai.

I could feel Ino keep wanting to broach a conversation with me as we kept our watch, but she never spoke up, and I didn't mention it. I was no longer in the mood for talking, instead keeping a more vigilant eye out into the darkness, making sure no movement caught me off guard. This is how the rest of the night went, and when the sky faded from black to a dark blue sprinkled with purples and eventually reds, it became easier to see our surroundings.

I could feel my legs contract with each step, the crust along the bottom of my eyes made them slightly stick whenever I blinked.

Still, I didn't want to stop.

XXX

**A/N: Don't worry, Sasuke is just around the corner! Sorry it's taken so long to get there, I promise it's going to be worth it though. :) **


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto!**

XXX

My head hit the pillow, yet my eyes wouldn't shut. I stared at the ceiling of the room Ino and I shared. The tiles crisscrossed in a blue and tan pattern, the light crept through the sides of the curtains to hit only some parts of the ceiling and the walls.

I flipped over on my side, turning my back to the window. Ino was already snoozing away next to me, her mouth hung slightly open, eliciting a soft snore every once in a while. I envied her. Sleep wasn't coming easily. Earlier, I didn't want to sleep, I didn't want to stop. I wanted to keep going because stopping, to me, felt a bit like failure.

But now, now that I was situated in a comfy bed, I wanted sleep to take me. It would be another escape from my thoughts. And, I wasn't stupid, my body needed rest even though I wish I was an unending amount of energy.

Ugh, everything was making me angry!

Stewing in my anger lasted for a while, and the next thing I remembered happening was walking along the village wall.

Ino was missing from my side, I was completely alone. The same feeling from before came over me, my skin prickled and I felt the wind shift menacingly. My head turned to the dark abyss of the forest's outskirts. This time, rather than seeing nothing, a pair of red eyes stared back at me. The sight of them drew me in, and my legs carried me towards it.

A part of me was scared, frightened by the fact that I was really not in control of my body. It was moving on its own accord, feeling a call to whatever awaited me beyond the trees.

The bigger part of me was excited, ready to get to my destination. There was a certainty that wrapped itself around me that wasn't abandoning me any time soon. All the despair and anger I carried earlier was gone, just from staring into those glowing red eyes. It felt like I was about to get answers to all the questions I've ever had.

A dark veil was before me, and my feet stopped only for an instant. I reach my hand out and watched as it was swallowed by the blackness. I took a deep breath and plunged the rest of me after it.

I had the sensation I was floating, or maybe it was like free falling. Wind was hitting me in all directions, but I couldn't tell which way I was moving.

It was then that I heard it.

"Sakura…"

My eyes widened all the way, desperately seeking the source of the voice. The deep voice that is always at the back of my mind.

"Until next time…"

Where was it coming from?

My arms waved in frantic patterns, trying to find something to hold onto, trying to find the speaker, trying to find _anything_.

My hand smacked into something and I grabbed ahold of it. I brought my other arm around and latched on with my remaining hand. I finally found my voice.

"Who are you?" I screamed into the darkness, pulling my hands in closer to me as I did so. "How do you know my name?"

"What are you talking about?" a voice screamed back at me, smacking my hands away.

"What?"

"Sakura, let me go!"

My eyes fluttered open, the light seeping through the edges of my vision and Ino's face slowly pieced itself together in front of me. Her blonde hair in disarray, half of her face covered by it, so I could only see her one eye looking back at me in a horrified expression.

Instantly, my fingers loosened and she was able to grapple out of my hold. She scooted back a few inches and tucked her hair behind her ear, exposing the other half of her face.

"What's wrong with you?" she almost shouted, but then her eyes smoothed into more of a worried look than an angry one.

"I…" My mouth hung open as I puzzled everything together. I'd been dreaming. The thing I grabbed onto while still dreaming was Ino, not the mysterious voice. "I'm so sorry."

She eyed me up and down before grabbing her pillow and hugging it close to her chest. "What was _that_? What were you dreaming about, Sakura?" She cocked her head slightly to the side. "Must've been pretty bad, you were gripping me so hard."

I winced, and felt an even deeper remorse. My fingers would probably leave bruises on her arms.

My body involuntarily shivered and I looked out the window. The Sun was still peaking through, though definitely not as strong as when we'd first arrived to the room. I was grateful for the light, it helped chase away the darkness I'd fallen into in my dream.

Blinking slowly, I turned back to Ino. She waited patiently, waiting for me to answer her on my time.

"It was nothing." I chickened out, not wanting to talk about it. "I don't remember."

"Seriously?" Ino countered and then gave an annoyed huff. "Well, whatever it was, don't do it again. You scared the shit out of me!"

I nodded weakly, and swung my legs over the side of the bed. I trudged around the room, closing the bathroom door behind me with a soft thud. My back leaned against the wood as my mind stretched in every which way.

It was hard for me to open my mouth and let the words flow. My breathing quickened, fingers balling into fists. Why was it that I couldn't talk to her about it?

Ino knew all about my mysterious voice, she's caught me daydreaming about it so often. So, why couldn't I speak now?

Was it because this time it was happening in a different place? Whenever I thought or dreamed about it before, it was always the same. The voice was always behind me, so close I could feel the cool breath on my neck. Always.

This time though, I was running to it. I was chasing it down. And in such a familiar place, the place where I'd felt something was watching me last night, the place Tsunade went to check out.

What did it all mean? Was I scared for Tsunade last night? Did the darkness mean that I was afraid to lose her?

I shook my head to untangle that strand of thinking. That couldn't have been it, Tsunade wouldn't get hurt that easily.

Why was the voice in that spot then?

I clenched my fists in anger, not able to think of anything that made sense. A growl threatened to escape my lips, but I was able to push it down before Ino heard it through the door.

The bath was filled with hot water already, the steam rising from the water, wrapping itself around me, drawing me in. I undressed and sank into the scalding tub, welcoming the slight pain from the temperature as it distracted me for the moment.

And I scrubbed and scrubbed and scrubbed at my skin, turning it raw and red. Good. Now my outside matched my inside. Red hot anger.

I toweled off, wrapping the cloth around me and securing it tightly above my chest. I opened the door to see Ino sitting up in bed, catching my gaze as I walked out. She got up and poked me in the arm as she passed me.

"You know, dummy, you can tell me anything."

The smile was so instantaneous that it almost made me laugh. "I know." She really was a great friend. I wish I could return the favor as much and tell her what was bothering me, that's what she wanted. She wanted me to unload my burdens and for her to share them. But, I couldn't do that to her, not when I had no idea what was going on inside my head anyway.

Ino shut the door to the bathroom, and I got dressed in a fresh set of clothes, a pair of black pants, and long-sleeved dark red shirt. I slid my black boots on, pulling until they hit me mid-calf.

There was a small chair sitting in the corner, just a few feet from the bed. I reached over to grab my weapons belt that I'd thrown onto it last night. It snapped into place, laying lower on my right hip from the weight of my sword.

I crossed my arms over my chest, closed my eyes, and took a deep breath. Everything was fine, I had nothing to worry about.

I repeated that over and over in my head as the seconds ticked by. I didn't know what was wrong with me. Lately, I've been all over the place mentally. Being so on and off again angry with myself was something that never happened before. What happened to me? Where had the calm Sakura gone?

Everything used to be so easy. At school, at home; I knew my place, my drive. I would best Tsunade someday, and I hated her fervently from afar. But now, I felt lost, and it made me so unbelievably angry.

Why was Tsunade being so normal? I kept waiting for the punchline in this scenario, of her being my Hunter Captain and holding it over my head, or her making me do such arduous tasks that the others didn't need to perform. She was treating me normally, something that I hadn't anticipated.

I didn't _understand_.

"Sakura," said a voice through the door. It was Tsunade's familiar tone ringing through my ears. She knocked twice before entering.

She eyed me up and down, noting my readiness. She was wearing something very similar to me, though she was doting a loose white top instead, and her weapons belt was sans sword.

She paced in without shutting the door behind her. She glanced at the closed bathroom door before turning her focus back on me.

"We need to discuss tonight's plan together. When Ino is ready to go, meet me back at the park we were at yesterday." She nodded as if she was answering her own command. "I've already told Naruto and Sai the same thing, so they'll get there soon."

"Yes," I said. "We'll be there shortly."

She gave me a weird look, as if sensing something was off with me. I stared blankly back, trying not to give anything away.

After turning on her heal, she shut the door now. I let out a breath I hadn't known I was holding in, and relaxed my shoulders. I wrapped the ends of my sleeves around my hands and crossed them over my chest again. Not a minute after Tsunade left, Ino opened the door, letting a flow a steam come sauntering into the room after her.

"I heard Tsunade from the bath," Ino explained. "I'll get dressed and we can go."

I turned away to look out the window, giving her some privacy to change. My finger latched around the curtain and I took a peek at the outside world. By the looks of the sky it was nearing mid-afternoon. But the real shock was when my gaze drifted lower to the streets where people were bustling all around. The whole village was abuzz with activity, people yelling, running, shopping. Now that I was concentrating, the sounds of it all stuck out to me. I was so caught up in my own thoughts before that the noise didn't register.

"There's people!" I shouted and opened the curtains all the way to get a better look.

"Hey!" Ino yelled, worried, from behind. "I'm getting dressed!"

"Oops," I offered sheepishly and shut the curtain. "Sorry."

She laughed lightly. "Jeez, Sakura, where's your head lately?"

"Are you dressed yet?" I asked.

"Yeah, you can turn around now."

"Good." I turned and instantly stuck my tongue out at her.

She picked up her pillow and threw it at me. I caught it easily, but the action still made the both of us laugh.

"Let's go," Ino said. "Before your sister comes after us. I don't want to know what would happen if she caught us." She gave an exaggerated shiver, both of her hands balled into fists by her face as she shook back and forth.

It was surprisingly very peaceful for me to walk through the busy streets. The bustle of the place felt familiar, and made me think of home. This was the longest I've been away from it, so the familiar scene was very welcoming.

Through the crowd, I could see Naruto standing ahead of us. He had his arm raised high in the air waving at us. Sai was at his side, yet he did nothing to show their location to us, he left that work to Naruto.

I started jogging towards them, people in the crowded street parted out of my way, their eyes wary at the sight of my sword. Then we were at the edge of the park. Children were running around, their laughter was an interesting sound in the air. Looking at the adults, they all wore somber expressions, scared of what's been going on. Their faces were juxtaposed by the giggles and squeals of young children.

Tsunade was sitting at a nearby picnic table. I pointed at her and motioned the others to follow me as I made my way over to her.

Splayed out in front of her was the map she used yesterday, a map of the village. She didn't look up at our approach, instead she went right into prattling off a plan.

"Last night I discussed with each of you the idea of a trap to lure the vampires out from hiding." Her fingers thrummed on the table's surface, each press was slow, deliberate, calculating. "This will be put on trial tonight."

"How shall we proceed?" Sai asked as he took a seat in front of Tsunade.

The rest of us sat as well, I took the seat closest to Sai, and Ino and Naruto across from us next to Tsunade.

"Sai is going to be the bait, as per winning the sparring match back home," Tsunade declared. I was about to protest and offer up myself as the bait, but then she spoke again. "Sakura, you'll be with him for being runner up."

"What will we be doing to draw them out?" I asked.

She gave both Sai and me a mischievous smirk. "How's your old lady impersonation?"

XXX

**A/N: Ahhhhhhh I'm sorrrrryyyyyyy, next chapter will DEFINITELY have Sasuke appear. I'm so evil XD **


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

XXX

Stupid. I felt stupid.

Sai walked next to me down the cobblestone path, both of us draped in large tattered cloaks, our backs hunched purposefully as we inched forward ever so slowly.

I was careful not to say anything as I'd been instructed. I didn't want the vampires to pick up on my real age underneath this sham of an appearance. Pretending to be an old lady was pretty easy when all I had to do was walk slow and make sure to stay bent over a bit. Under my hood, I could see Sai at the very edge of the village opening. I followed him out of the village just a little before sunset.

I had to admit, it seemed like a pretty foolproof plan to pretend to be old women getting caught outside too late, as if we weren't paying attention to the time. Picking flowers in the nearby field until the light turned dark, when we would appear to be an easy meal to local vampires as we scuttled back as fast as our old, tired legs could carry us.

I couldn't sense Ino, Naruto, or Tsunade, they were well hidden somewhere nearby. I was happy to be the bait in this plan, I wouldn't have been happy to be ordered on the sidelines to watch someone else put themselves in danger.

The tattered cloak was itchy against my skin. It took a lot of my willpower to not throw it off of me. Only the drive to not mess up kept the cloak in place.

Just a few more minutes of walking and we were on the far end of the clearing. The wildflowers bloomed thickest there, a mix of yellows and pinks and blues swayed in the breeze. The smell of pollen filled my nose, a sneeze looming just seconds away.

I held out a second thinly woven basket in Sai's direction, which he took somberly.

It was pretty funny seeing Sai pretend to be an old lady, but then the seriousness of the situation crept through me when I caught sight of the forest's edge that haunted my dream.

My mouth dried up the longer I stared into the trees, my eyes weaving in and out of their lines as if it was a maze.

I pinched my lips together tightly and turned my back on the sight. It made me uncomfortable, but I couldn't bare to face it for a second longer. In front of me, the vivid colors rushed back to the forefront of my mind, calming me almost instantly. All my attention was focused on picking the flowers from the dirt, cracking the stem off with a soft crunch filling the air.

Time passed, flowers were picked. I watched in fascination as the shadows of the flowers moved as the sun did, the only revelation of time passing.

Sai shuffled over to me as an old woman would, and nudged me with his shoulder.

This was it.

I rocked back gently, getting up off my knees. I fluffed the cloak around me, making sure I was still covered. My hands were sweaty from where I crushed the basket handle between my fingers. My eyes darted around under the hood, this way and that trying to catch any sort of movement. It was dark now, shadows were long and the light was faint.

The village gates were rather far, farther than we would make it in the light. The timing was perfect, we'd seem like careless humans, just waiting to be picked off by a group of vampire thugs.

It was difficult for me to shuffle my feel so slowly, each step a calculation for luring out a monster. Beckoning for them to come and eat me.

I wondered how many times Tsunade had done this, she knew exactly what to do and had instructed us to do just that. It made me think of how many missions she had when I was growing up. She'd been out the door by the time I was 14 years old. Six years she's been out on missions while I was living at home. Must've made mom mad with worry, so how was she right now? All alone while her two daughters were off with the monsters.

A cluck of the tongue stood out in the silent night. I twisted so fast in its direction that the cloak almost fell from my shoulders.

He wasn't very tall, that was my first impression of him. When my eyes traveled the short distance from his black boots to his face, I stopped breathing.

He was a tad paler than a human from years without sunlight, his purple eyes shimmered like a thousand stars settled up to his pupils, which were heavily dilated. And his lips, his lips were pulled back in a broad smile showing off his fangs. He had white hair that went down long enough to almost skim at his shoulders.

His gaze was triumphant, and then a split second later he was confused. He saw our youth beneath the cloaks and tried to understand what we were doing.

Sai pulled his cloak back and brought out a pair of daggers. They glinted as he positioned them in front of himself. "Hello," he said, voice coiling around the air like a snake.

Was the vampire alone?

The way he looked around was confusing me. I couldn't tell if he was looking for backup, looking for a way out, or looking for more of us.

I brought my hood down with one hand as I brought out a stake with my other.

His eyes zeroed in on the stake, an unflinching severity in them at the sight of the weapon. His smile gone.

"Who are you?" his voice came out so fluidly, smooth as I'd never heard before.

"We are here to stop you from killing the innocent people of this town." Sai then let out a low whistle, and Naruto, Ino, and Tsunade appeared behind the vampire.

He didn't turn around to look at them. Instead, he laughed.

"Innocent? Who said they were innocent?" He cocked his head, still keeping his eyes on my stake.

My eyebrows furrowed. "What are you talking about?"

"I've been picking off the bad guys, sweet thing," he said so casually, his hand coming to rest on his hip. His white hair blew in the wind.

For all the Academy preparing, I could not understand his flippant attitude. I thought vampires would be more sullen, more...quiet. He was so talkative.

What did he mean by that admission? "I don't understand," I said.

Tsunade hissed softly, a way to tell me to shut up. But, I wanted to hear more.

"There are rapists and murderers that walk among the humans, sweet thing," he said, again giving me the term of endearment. "I've been taking them. If you ask me, I'm doing this town a bit of a service."

Tsunade made her move. She pushed off with her legs and charged at the vampire. Even though he didn't see it coming, he jumped out of the way, going right over my head to escape our little circle.

I whirled around and caught sight of him. He hadn't gone far, just about ten feet in front of me now. His eyes glittering with excitement.

My arm muscle was straining with the pressure I held the stake at, and I was breathing through gritted teeth.

Tsunade was beside me in an instant. "So then what were you doing attacking us?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "Can't a guy give a little scare to someone every now and then?"

Disgusting. Vampires were so slimy, lying through his teeth like that. Anger swelled within me, making me burn up. I threw my cloak down so that I'd have easier access to the rest of my weapons.

I sized him up for only a second before my body began to lunge into action.

"Sakura!" Tsunade shouted and grabbed the back of my shirt to keep me from advancing.

I caught my balance and glared up at her. Why would she stop me? Isn't the point of this mission to kill him? I was about to do that!

The vampire stared at my face, really taking in all of my features. I couldn't tell what he was thinking, but the way he looked at me didn't feel like he was quite appreciating his next meal. No, it was more deliberating than that.

In that moment, a clang of metal filled the air. The vampire held a dagger up near his throat, blocking a well-aimed attack from Sai, who had been aiming to chop off his head.

Sai's hand was steady, as were his eyes.

The vampire still faced me while defending himself. Eyes roving over my body and face. "Sakura," he repeated.

Tsunade's mouth drew to the side in a pinched frown. She didn't like that he knew my name, and it had been her fault. A slip of the tongue on her end was probably something she wasn't used to doing.

The game was over then.

In a flash, the vampire pushed his own blade back at Sai's causing enough time for him to move away.

Towards me.

Even though he was fast, I moved against him. I lept to the left before he could get his hands on me, Tsunade followed close by, stepping in front of me with her dagger held high.

The vampire's blade crashed against Tsunade's, her left leg digging into the dirt behind her as she braced for the hit.

A guttural growl erupted from her throat, a side of her I'd never seen before.

Her right hand dove to the side of her belt, unlatching the wooden stake she kept there. I blinked, and her stake was almost near the vampire's chest.

His hand shot out to grab the tip of the stake just before it plunged into his heart. Beyond him, Ino and Naruto came to life. There were more flashes of light, blades glinting in the night, before they charged at him. And he was gone. The three of them, Tsunade, Naruto, and Ino, were barely able to pull their weapons back before they crashed into each other.

Tsunade's growl came again, but this time there was a vampire between us to buffer the sound.

I stared into his eyes and he stared into mine.

My leg came up in a kick, he ducked under it to come up behind me. His cold hand wrapped around my neck.

"Sakura," he whispered my name in my ear. "Such a pretty name."

I tried to buck my hips hard enough away from him so that the rest of my body would follow, but his other hand shot out to take ahold of my belt.

My feet left the ground and shot forward, the same with my arms. He brought us back, leaping far away from my team.

"Time to go." I could hear the smile in his voice as he said the words.

There was a pressure at the back of my neck and then everything started to fade to black. The last thing I saw before the darkness completely took my vision was Tsunade running straight at me, a look of fear on her face.

Never before had I seen such an expression from her.

"What do you mean you brought one back?" came a muffled voice off in the distance. "He's not going to be happy about this."

"Her name is Sakura."

"..."

"I couldn't just leave her there after learning that."

"I still don't think this is going to end well."

Footsteps and then a door creaked open. I kept my eyes shut, my breathing even. If my captors wanted me dead, I'd have been dead long ago. I needed more information, I needed for them to keep talking.

"I can't be sure though, I wasn't there." Now that he was closer, and not muffled from a closed door, I could tell that this voice belonged to the vampire from before; the one who took me.

I held in a flinch when I felt what must be the bed move from him sitting on it. I could feel his aura without needing to look at him, and it made me want to scooch far, far away.

"I hope that it's her," he said. "He could really use some good news."

"I think he'll be mad you put her in danger," the second voice said, which now I could recognize as female. I couldn't tell if this one was vampire or not, but whoever it was had a strong aura about them.

"When's he supposed to be back?"

"It's taking him a long time to shake that warlock. It might be a couple more days. Though I hope he'll be able to come back sooner," the female swooned, her voice filled with infatuation.

The male vampire grunted, possibly out of annoyance.

"Well, we should wake her," he said.

"Whatever, I'm leaving anyway. There's a few more things we need to get to complete the daylight ritual. She's your responsibility now, Suigetsu."

The door closing followed her footsteps as she walked out the room. Suigetsu remained sitting on the bed, I could feel his eyes on me as I lay there.

I kept my eyes shut.

He gave out a sigh and then left the room after another minute of waiting. As soon as the door clicked shut behind him, I opened my eyes.

The room appeared to be ordinary, nothing special stood out about it. Dark walls, simple rug, the bed I was on and a dresser nearby.

Even though it was sparsely decorated, it still felt lived in to me.

My fingers roved across the sheets, my head still on the feathered pillow.

How could I have gotten myself into this situation? On my very first mission, I get kidnapped. How pathetic. After all my boasting, after all my thinking I was better than others, I go and get kidnapped by a vampire.

My fingers clenched, bunching up the sheets in my fist. My arm shook from the force.

I had to get out of here.

Very carefully, as to not make any noise, I moved into a sitting position, noting that all my weapons were missing.

I scanned the room for something to use, anything small that I could swing in my hands. There was a candle on the dresser, the tiny flame the only thing casting light throughout the dark room. The body of the holder was warm beneath my touch. I took the thick candle off and set it down on the dresser directly.

Tiptoeing to the door, I held the holder as if I was wielding a knife.

Beyond the door, I couldn't hear anything. It still made me nervous to move the handle, but I needed to move forward, I couldn't stay in this room waiting for whatever fate these monsters had in store for me.

It lead into a narrow passage, lined infrequently by wall lanterns. The grooves of the rock were bumpy and cool beneath my touch. I kept my hand on the wall as I moved, breathing minimally as I focused on listening to my surroundings.

Where was this place? It was an underground labyrinth! How many tunnels were there?!

The further I went, the more panicked I became. My pace quickened, and I could feel my heart pounding in my ears.

Turning this way and that, I was going crazy looking at all of the same look alike tunnels. Every once in a while, there would be a door. I took extra care to move past those, making little noise, holding my breath, taking big strides to avoid walking in front of the crack at the bottom of the doors.

No one crossed my path, but my biggest problem so far was still finding my way out.

Sweat ran down my neck, dipping below my shirt collar. I felt utterly exposed with none of my weapons, but I wouldn't even know where to begin to look for them. I sure as hell wasn't about to go barging into these random rooms.

"Who are you?"

A chill went through me, but it wasn't for the normal reason that it should have. No, it wasn't because of someone finding me sneaking around and the fear of them putting me back in the room.

No.

The chill came from recognizing that voice.

That deep, dark voice that haunted my memories, my waking thoughts.

It felt like forever before my head was able to turn around, to see where the voice emanated from.

And there he was.

Sasuke Uchiha.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: THANK YOU to all of you who fav, follow, or review this story! You guys keep me going. :) **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

XXX

He looked just the same as if he'd walked right out of my textbook. As if I could run my finger over his face and it would feel like the flat surface of a piece of paper.

The planes of his face danced with the shadows of the flickering flames. His eyes hard and unwavering as he stared into my own.

My knees shook and I slid down on them to the floor. Hands shaking, I brought them up to my mouth, to cover my lips lightly.

"How…" I whispered, barely able to get the sound to come out.

He remained standing, staring down at me. His face an unreadable mask.

This couldn't be real. This wasn't possible.

No.

"What are you doing here?" his voice came out fast, breathy. He appeared calm, though his eyes had changed from a blankness to comprehension.

He knew who I was. He'd met me before. Many years ago, when I was still a young girl.

He took a step towards me, causing my eyes to focus on his dark boots. They stayed glued there, unable to look back into his eyes.

"Sakura," his voice was quiet, smooth through the air. "What are you doing here?" he repeated his question.

There was no way the voice from my memories was Sasuke Uchiha.

His hand came into view, and I flinched away from it, almost completely falling backwards, but I was able to dig my heel harshly into the ground to stop it from happening.

I gritted my teeth together, refusing to speak.

His hands gripped my shoulders, and I wanted to shove out of his grasp, but he didn't let me do so.

"I'm not going to hurt you," he said.

The sadness in his voice had me look up, made me need to see his expression.

_I know_, I wanted to say, but still couldn't find my voice.

He kept his grip on me and brought us back up to a standing position. His eyes held mind, as dark as the forest in my dream was, pulling me in and holding me there.

"Help me understand," he pleaded, his eyebrows knit together.

And I saw them then, in the parting of his lips laced through his words, were fangs.

It was easy for me to put the impossibility of him being alive to the back of my mind when I wasn't really looking at him. But now, it was staring at me straight in the face. As if he recognized what my gaze was focusing on, the fangs in his mouth retracted, replaced by a normal set of teeth, and then he closed his mouth in a grim line.

Sasuke Uchiha really was a vampire.

How did the village get that wrong? Maybe they knew all along, and gave us a different history. I didn't want to think on the components of that.

"I…" What could I say? Years I'd been wondering as to how it would feel if I were to ever know the owner of the voice, and now that I was at that point I had no idea what to do with the information given to me.

"You found her!" Suigetsu came rushing into the hall behind Sasuke. He was relieved at the sight of us, but then when he looked at Sasuke's expression, he stopped completely.

I was glad for not being able to see it as he'd turned away from me, it must have been truly terrifying based on the way Suigetsu looked like he wanted to run away and keep on running.

"What have you done?" Sasuke's voice came out even with an undercurrent of cruelty. His arms brought me in closer to his side, though I wasn't sure if he knew he was even doing it.

Suigetsu brought his hands up before his body and waved them a few times. "Hold on, hold on. Don't kill me before you hear me out!"

Sasuke didn't reply, so Suigetsu took that as his moment to explain.

"When I heard her name was Sakura, I just acted." His eyes danced over my face before looking back at the angry male beside me. "I wanted you to talk to her."

Sasuke let out a deep breath. "Go."

Suigetsu nodded and was gone in a breath, his zooming form rounded the corner and then we were alone.

I rolled my shoulder, it was uncomfortable being pressed so close to him.

As soon as I'd done that, he let me go, taking a few steps back. When I looked at his face, I didn't see any of the anger that no doubt had been there just moments before.

"Will you come with me?" he asked, holding his hand out for me to take.

I stared at it, neither of my hands raising to accept. "Why?" I rasped.

"Afterwards, I can take you anywhere you need to go, wherever you were before Suigetsu brought you here." He leveled my expression, trying to see which way I was going to go. "You can always tell me to take you back, and I will do so right away. I won't question it."

I should go. Tsunade, I needed to get back to Tsunade.

But, I couldn't leave yet. I wanted answers, and this would possibly be the only time I was going to get them.

I didn't take his hand, but I nodded. His fingers slowly clenched into a soft fist to rest at his side before he turned and walked down the hall from where I came. I followed after a few heart beats, and found that I wasn't as afraid anymore.

Curiosity enveloped me instead. It drove my legs to move forward, step by step.

Sasuke knew where he was going, confidently making the turns down the confusing labyrinth.

The hall we were in stopped at a final door. He opened it and held it open for me. I walked in warily, my eyes on his form the whole time.

The room was much like the one I'd woken up in. Simple, very few items. The sheets were dark, and there were more candles to light the area along the walls.

I didn't venture too far into the room, stopping very close to the door. When he shut it with a click, my shoulders tightened, and I immediately moved into a defensive position. He took one look at me and moved quickly to the other side of the room, far away from the door, obviously giving me some semblance of perceived safety.

Both of us waited for the other to start this painfully awkward process. When this became quite clear, Sasuke straightened his back a bit and exhaled slowly.

"Firstly, I apologize that Suigetsu has gotten you into this situation. That was never my intent."

I bit the inside of my cheek, weighing his words.

"Who are you?" I needed to hear him say it.

At this question, he grew uncomfortable. He rocked on his feet just a smidge, but I still caught it.

"You seem to have recognized me just a little bit ago."

I stared at him, waiting for him to give me a straight answer.

And then he did something I wasn't expecting him to do. He ran his hand through his hair. The action reminded me of Naruto, which was a strange juxtaposition considering how apparently opposite the two males were.

"My name is Sasuke. Sasuke Uchiha."

Hearing it from his lips made it more real. I felt stupid for wanting to reach over to the inside of my elbow and pinch the skin there to see if I was dreaming or not.

"You're a vampire," I dumbly pointed out.

He gave me something like an apologetic expression.

"What happened? You're supposed to be dead."

I'd triggered him then, because his eyes flashed a dazzling red at the reminder he really didn't need.

I jumped back, hitting the door with my back. I quickly righted myself, however. "You're a Prophet. You can see the future." They were so rare, vampires with special powers. I thought it would have taken me a few more missions, a few more years, to run into one.

His eyes regressed to their normal darkness then, as if he'd reigned himself in. "Yes."

What has he been able to see with his gift? And if he was able to see the future, then why hadn't he seen me coming?

I backed up a step, putting my hand on the door knob, torn between making a run for it or to stay for answers.

His eyes briefly touched over my hand and looked to the floor before his own feet. He closed his eyes then and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"This isn't right. You shouldn't be here."

My body became hot, boiling over in my anger. "You can blame your friend for that."

"I'll take you back to where you were." Obviously, he had regretted bringing me here, stopping whatever it was he wanted to even talk about in the first place. His fingers twitched and then he was at my side in a second, whisking across the room in a flurry of movement.

My hands went up instinctively before I threw a punch to his face. His speed startled me into action.

His cool hand wrapped around my fist easily, his grip firm yet gentle. He examined it thoughtfully, turning it over to open my fingers, revealing my palm in the process.

The expression on his face was regretful, beautifully sad. He traced a finger along the contours of my palm, running over them slowly as to keep from surprising me again.

A shriek from down the hall pierced through the door, catching both of our full attentions.

"You have to go," he rushed, angling his body in front of mine before opening the door. "They've found us."

"I want my weapons!" Something very bad was about to happen, and I was not about to stay unarmed any longer.

He shut the door and raced to a trunk at the end of his bed. In a blink, he was standing in front of me again. Pushed out in front of him, he presented me with a beautiful sword. It looked just like mine, only the colors on the hilt were reversed.

"This isn't mine…"

"It's mine." He shoved it into my hands, not waiting for me to grab it. And then I was in his arms, and we were careening down the halls.

My hair whipped back from the speed, and I kept careful watch over where we were going. Like before, everything still looked the same to me, but I wasn't sure when something new would leap out and attack.

Actually, it could be Tsunade doing this. I couldn't believe it'd taken me so long to think of that possibility. Maybe she was here to take me back. I glanced up at Sasuke, keeping a tight grip on the sword as I did so.

His face was blank, focused on the task at hand. His determination to get me out of here was something that I couldn't understand. Why was he going through all this effort for me? We've obviously met before, that's how I had his voice running rampant in my head for so long, but if it had truly been a more meaningful meeting then why hadn't I remembered what he looked like? If we'd talked about anything.

A few seconds meeting in passing seemed like a hard thing for a vampire to remember, considering what long lives they had. The amount of time we were together was practically nothing, so why did he care so much about me?

I knew it was stupid, possibly one of the dumbest things I've done my whole life, but I found myself believing that Sasuke wasn't going to hurt me. That he was really looking out for me.

Stupid.

But that thought was all I had at the moment. If what Sasuke was worried about was an even worse vampire coming to attack, then I had to hope that he was on my side. Otherwise, I would be facing off against two vampires at the end of this.

I took a peek behind us.

A burst of red flew in our direction, a live flame dancing about the halls. Gaara stared straight into my eyes in surprise. He wasn't expecting to see me again, especially not in the arms of a lethal vampire.

I turned back to Sasuke. "Did you steal from Gaara?"

His lips twitched in amusement, trying to hide a smirk.

"I can't believe it." Sasuke was the vampire Gaara had been chasing? Sasuke Uchiha. Why hadn't Tsunade said anything?! "Do you really think you'll be able to walk in the sunlight with whatever it is you stole?"

A blast of fire singed past us, the heat was almost overwhelming as it brushed over my head. Sasuke let out a growl and increased his speed.

I could hear Gaara chanting something in a foreign tongue behind us, and ahead of us another person burst out of the hallway on the right. It was a girl with short, spiky blonde hair, the color of desert sand.

Her dark eyes scanned us and she threw a handful of knives at in a flash. Hunter. She must have been one of the hunters Tsunade said Gaara was traveling with. From her looks and clothes, she was definitely from Suna.

Sasuke bent his legs and pushed off, we flew threw the air, effectively dodging the knives. His body twisted so his feet were able to hit the wall and push off again, careening us above and past the blonde hunter.

He landed softly and kept the same speed.

I kept my eyes on Gaara and the blonde hunter. "You can leave me with them, you know. They'd get me back to my sister."

The look on Gaara's eyes was desperate, and when he made eye contact with me they grew livid. Like he couldn't believe that Sasuke had somehow gotten his hands on me. I could only imagine the scenarios running through his head about what happened to Tsunade that I was in such a place right now.

And the world disappeared, my stomach flying up to my throat as we fell downward at an alarming rate.

Below us, the world opened up, the forest an ocean spreading out on the horizon. Looking up through my whipping hair, Gaara and the female were staring at us through a small opening on the side of a cliff. They shared a fierce conversation before turning back to the tunnel and disappearing from sight.

Sasuke's grip tightened around me, as he calculated where he was going to land.

Like a million feet down.

I watched in horror as the trees that were once small and insignificant were rapidly growing in size and intimidation. Tears welled in my eyes and escaped out of the corners from not blinking as I stared straight into my doom.

Sasuke crushed me against his chest as his feet met the dirt. His body resonated from the impact, yet I could tell he tried to make it so that I would feel as little as possible in the way he held me. A billowing cloud of dust erupted from us, and I sucked a lungful through my mouth, causing an annoying coughing fit.

He straightened and walked at a brisk pace away from the smoke, setting me down slowly, allowing me to gain my footing after all that activity.

My knees wobbled only a little before I forced them to still. I gripped the hilt of the sword, ready to unveil it at a moment's notice.

"_What_ is going on? You stole from Gaara, you don't want to let me go with them...I feel like the picture is still forming in front of me but I can't quite finish the puzzle."

Sasuke faced away from me, cutting me off as he turned to the side. "Do you really want to know?"

His solemn voice filled the air, dancing around us like a snake ready to strike.

"Yes," I whispered.

His hand exposed to me clenched into a fist, and his head jerked back to face me in an instant. "I want to show you something. But, I still want to take you back and away from this mess."

He was torn, and so was I. He was messed up in something serious, something that our world had never seen before. For a vampire to walk in the sunlight could possibly throw the hunter world into complete and utter chaos.

And yet, he wanted this meeting to continue. I could see it in his eyes, the set of his jaw in that determined expression. I wanted it to keep going, too.

And I hated myself for it.

Just an hour with him and I felt trust seep through us. I didn't know him, but it felt like I did. This pull was drawing me to him. I should fight it, should run away from here.

"Show me," I couldn't stop the words from escaping past my lips.


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. **

**XXX**

His body went rigid at my voice, as if he wished I said the opposite instead. His foot shuffled across the ground and inch before it stopping moving completely. His face reading mine as the night conversed around us.

He nodded once, and then moved quickly through the trees. I followed him, keeping up with his pace. Vampires were fast, but hunters were trained to be just as fast. How were we going to kill something if we weren't able to catch it?

We traveled further and further away from the mountain, who knew how long we had until Gaara and his companion hunter caught up to us. I felt time's cool breath on my neck, and I pushed off the ground harder, willing my body to move faster, faster still. We had such little time, and I didn't want to waste any of it by slowing us down.

He veered left, breaking us through the brush and into a clearing. The grass here was tall and unruly, stretching up to the sky as high as they'd reach.

We walked straight through it, my hands tickled from the light touches of the grass blades. Sasuke made his way so confidently, following the lines of a map I could not see.

In the center of the field, he ducked to touch the ground. He brushed a bit of dirt aside to reveal a small handle. Yanking on it, he opened the ground up to reveal a staircase. The tall grass remained on top of the door, and would act as cover when the door would shut closed behind us.

I tested the first step, and then the second, and slowly made my way down into the pool of darkness. Sasuke wasn't far behind, but my adrenaline picked back up again when the hatch closed shut and left us in the complete dark. I couldn't see an inch in front of my face, so I opened myself up to my other senses.

There was a scratching sound to my left, and then a strike brought a small flame to life. Sasuke's face appeared in the dim glow, his eyes scanning the nearby wall for something.

I saw what he was looking for at the same time he had. We both reached for it and stopped short when we saw how close our hands were. He jerked his hand back, allowing me to grab hold of the torch.

The wood felt solid in my grasp, and I lifted it off its place on the wall to hold before him. He stuck the match to the clothed top and the light grew brighter from it. He gingerly took the torch from my hand and lead the way deeper into the tunnel.

If this was what a vampire's life always looked like, you could definitely count me out. I mean, I never would want to become one in the first place anyway, but to have a life be so filled with all these never ending halls and maze like abodes. How did they function like this?

He stopped short of a doorway, and looked back at me as he turned the handle. We walked inside and he ventured off a few steps to the left, leaning over and extending his arm to lay the torch down on a stone structure. The flames roared to life, licking away at a substance that stretched along the stonehenge lining the entire room. Within seconds, darkness was chased away to make way for the flickering light.

In the center of the room stood a stone pedestal, and in the middle of it was a slightly glowing orb. The dim red pulsed every few seconds, a dying light in and of itself.

Symbols littered the skin of the object, but I couldn't make out what they were exactly, what they meant. My feet carried me over without a thought, and my hand hovered just over the orb without touching it.

Warmth radiated from it.

"This is…" This was the thing that Gaara was looking for. The Sun bomb.

Sasuke walked around to the other side of the pedestal. When he came to a stop, he squared his shoulders to me, facing me head on. His gaze stuck on the orb, but somehow I knew his attention was on me, waiting to see how I'd react, the next thing I'd say to him.

"Can I touch it?"

The side of his mouth lifted in a husky laugh. "I'd prefer it if you didn't."

My hand retracted a bit, but my longing to hold the item was substantial.

"Why..." I took a step back, watching Sasuke warily. "Why did you take it?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Why wouldn't I take it?"

The way he said it shouldn't have surprised me, but I still couldn't believe his tone. Bitterness filtered through each of his breathes, the slight pauses he took between each word.

It was the first time I'd ever heard him speak to me in such a manner. And it surprised me that it took so long for it to occur. I found myself forgetting that he was indeed a vampire. A monster of the night.

Something I should fear.

His hands at his sides clenched tight. "It is a necessity."

"But what do you need it for?"

He lurked around, quickly coming up to a stop in front of me. His fingers wrapped around my wrists, holding me in place.

My eyes narrowed at the rough contact. "Let go!"

He gripped tighter.

"You don't understand what it's like to be a vampire," he seethed. "Slinking around in the dark year after year after year with no end in sight."

"If you find it so unbearable, why don't you just end it then?" I struggled to get out of his grasp, eventually wringing my wrists away from his hold. I stepped back a few feet, outside of his reach. "Why go on?"

His gaze was harsh, and yet thoughtful. I could practically see his thoughts flashing through his eyes, as if he were looking back on all his years as a monster.

"I used to be a hunter once, just like you."

My head bobbed up and down. "I know, I've read about you in my book." A flush sprang to my face, making my head feel warm with embarrassment. No need to say how often I read about him.

"You know who I am," he stated. "Then you must know why I am still alive."

He looked at me expectantly, trying to coax me into realizing the answer to my own question.

His story in my textbook was brief. All I knew was he was from a powerful family, his parents were killed, and he was also supposed to have been dead from the same incident.

"Itachi," my lips tingled from the name passing through them. "Your brother, he's still out there."

A snarl ripped from his throat and his lips stretched to expose his fangs. His eyes turned a vivid red, mixing exquisitely with the fire on the outskirts of the room.

I pulled the sword out of its sheath, angling it in front of me with both hands on the hilt. The sheath fell to the floor, and the sound of it hitting the stone reverberated around us.

It took him a few seconds to calm down, retract his fangs and allow his eyes to fade back to their normal dark hue.

He looked ruefully at the sword in my hands, taking a deep breath and letting it out through his nose. "I wasn't supposed to do that."

The sword stayed where it was, I didn't move it an inch.

"I will behave myself," he said quietly.

"Sorry, I feel like this weird dream is about to end, and I'm not taking any chances." My senses were firing at light speed, eyes scanning his movements, smelling the musty underground around us, listening to the fire cracking around the room.

That flash he'd shown me brought everything crashing down to perspective. What in the actual hell was I doing right now? Why had I allowed myself to be drawn in, to let him lead me down here in this underground room where no one would be able to find my dead body. My bones would turn to ash with the passage of time, and eventually no one would remember me.

"I'm going back to my team now," I said, slowly backing up towards the door. I let go of the sword with my left hand to reach down and grab the torch resting on the stone still. The wood was warm beneath my touch, the wood sending a sense of security through me. If need be, I'd snap the thing in half and be able to use it as a stake.

"Sakura, I didn't mean to frighten you." His words played at me, made me want to stay. It was like a dream, hearing that voice I'd played over and over in my head over the past decade or so. Maybe that's what it was, I got caught up in a dream. Thinking that I was safe with Sasuke because he was the voice in my memories was a falsehood. I was stupid for thinking anything about this was a good idea.

"If you care about me like I think you do," I started, cursing at myself silently when my voice wobbled at the end. "Then you won't come after me when I leave this room."

His hand reached out, as if to touch me. It hung in the air alone, beckoning me back to him.

This was what made them so dangerous. Vampires were already ferocious with their sharp teeth, superhuman strength, and then those special abilities held by few of their kind. But this, this pull they could unleash on their victims to make them feel...make me feel like I needed to be around him. What a horrible, terrible power.

I reached back and awkwardly maneuvered the handle with the same hand I held the torch in. When it pulled free, slowly swinging it into the room, I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. Sasuke was still standing by the pedestal, he was as still as the stone itself.

That image of him burned into my mind, his eyes longing for something, forgiveness perhaps, and his hand still waiting in the air, beckoning me to return.

The memory of his voice on my neck played through, as if I was a little girl again. But I knew now that I didn't want this, I wished that I had never known who the voice belonged to. I wished I was left in the dark about it all.

I was leaving this place, and I was going to find my sister. I was going back to reality.

My boots echoed across the floor as I took off in a sprint in the direction we came. I reached the stairs quickly, taking them two at a time. I didn't allow myself to look back, afraid of shattering my escape attempt.

Pushing my shoulder against the rough hatched door made my shoulder ache, and it took a couple tries for me to get the thing open. Fresh air rushed at me, and I pushed on. The tall grass tickled the tops of my hands as I ran through them, the _chit chit chit_ sound they made as my body parted them stuck in my ears.

Only when I made it past the grass did I dare to look back. My arms pumped, legs barreling me forward as I quickly glanced over my shoulder.

He was there, standing in the middle of the field. Though he wasn't making a move to come after me, it still made me nervous that he could reach me in a second if he changed his mind.

A guttural cry escaped me, and I hated myself for it. My body ached, bogged down with all the information I'd obtained in such a short amount of time.

A pond welled up from the trees to my left and I threw the torch in it, effectively concealing myself in the darkness. The bite of the sword's hilt caught my attention then, but I kept hold of it. The sword and hilt were all I had weapon-wise.

But, my run was short lived. Just in the next second, Sasuke appeared before me, his eyes set in a glare that I couldn't interpret, his mouth set in an angry way.

"Forgive me," he spoke before he took hold of me and carried me off.

I struggled against him, swinging the sword in his direction. He stumbled a bit when he had to let me go to bring his left arm up to block my attack. The blade bit into his skin and he let out a low hiss of pain.

He gave me a long look before his hand reached out and hit the back of my neck.

_No! _

I glared at him as my vision began to fade into nothingness once again.


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

XXX

My surroundings came to me slowly, a steady image surfacing to the forefront of my mind.

I lay upon a soft bed, the blankets tucked securely around me. As I recalled my earlier encounter with Sasuke, I shot into a sitting position.

The room was dark, a lone window settled to the left showing a slowly brightening sky. Not much time must have passed since Sasuke knocked me out.

But, where had he brought me?

I tossed the blanket from me and got to my feet. I crossed the distance to the window quickly, looking out across the expanse that lay beyond.

Nothing. There was no visible marking to show me where this place was. Low hanging clouds that canopied the view were the only clue I had. This place was somewhere up high. The side of a mountain, perhaps?

The door creaked open behind me, and I hurled around with both fists up, ready for anything.

Well, not anything I guess, because before me was a maiden, a young woman with short black hair pulled back at the nape of her neck. Her eyes were bright and shocked when she spotted me out of bed.

"Miss, I didn't think you'd be up so soon-"

"Who are you? Where am I?" I didn't lower my guard one bit.

Her hands lay crossed in front of her, not taking up a fighting nor a defensive position as she took a step further into the room. Everything about her told me she was not aggressive, but I was in an unfamiliar place. I wasn't about to lose my life by underestimating enemies.

However, if they wanted me dead, wouldn't they have already killed me by now, rather than allowing me to sleep in a plush bed?

The woman remained calm, a human trying to soothe an anxiety ridden animal. "My name is Yuko, and you are in master Sasuke's home. He has instructed me to tending to you, and to bring you to him when you awaken. Since you are up now, would you mind coming with me?"

I stared at her blankly for a few more seconds, unsure of how I was going to respond. Yes, I wanted to see him so that I could continue our fight. But, it should really be my priority to get out of her as quickly as possible so that I could go find Tsunade and the others.

Yuko seemed like a genuinely nice person, making the brief thought flit through my mind of how someone so nice could be employed by a vampire. She seemed well-cared for enough for me to recognize that she wasn't being mistreated or malnourished.

But, still, I was going to have to take her down and get out of here before she raised any kind of alarm. So, I nodded. "I'll come with you."

She gave me a warm smile. "Wonderful. He is this way." She gave a slight bow of her head and then opened her arm to the left, gesturing to follow her down the hallway.

I walked to her, following closely behind, eyeing the back of her neck. Now I had two vampires incapacitate me in such a manner, it should be no problem for me to do the same thing to Yuko so that I could get away from this place.

I pulled my arm back carefully, but just as I was about to unleash it a hand stopped me. Strong fingers clasped onto my wrist, and I whipped around to see Sasuke staring straight at me, amusement dancing in his eyes for the briefest of moments before being replaced by guarded weariness.

Yuko had turned around after hearing the commotion. "Oh, master Sasuke. I thought you wanted to meet your guest in the library?"

He held my gaze before looking at Yuko. "I was feeling restless, so I wanted to move about. Just good timing that I ran into you both here."

Letting go of my wrist, he then said, "Thank you, Yuko. You may leave us."

She gave a slight bow before disappearing through a nearby door. Once it snapped shut, I threw a well-aimed punch to his face.

He caught my fist easily enough, not even blinking at the sudden motion.

I growled. "What have you done? Where did you take me?"

His eyebrow rose, but he didn't answer me. Instead, he said, "Will you stop attacking me so that we may have a conversation?"

I could feel the bite of my fingernails as they dug into the palm of my hand. I couldn't help but tighten my fist at his request.

"How dare you? You kidnap me and act like I'm the crazy one here!"

He pushed my arm back, letting go then. I stumbled a step before immediately righting myself.

He turned on his heel then, showing his back to me, completely unafraid of my attacks. "Follow me, I will explain."

I waited before he was at least ten feet in front of me before I followed. I reminded myself that if he wanted me dead, I would already be on the floor by now. Even though I couldn't trust him, I could trust in that one fact.

He wanted me alive. But, why?

"Are you going to make me some sort of sacrifice in order to get power?" I asked.

His head gave a quick tilt to the left, his eyes seeking me out as they appraised me with an amused expression. "No, you are not a sacrifice."

"Then what else could it be for me to still be alive?"

His steps halted, the still air hung in the air between us. Without looking at me, he said, "You are alive because I could never hurt you. And you are here because I need to make you stronger."

My head tilted and lips parted, but nothing came out for a while. After a few more seconds of silence, he turned to finally look at me.

"As you are, you are not strong enough. I thought I would be fine with letting you go back to your team, but I couldn't do it. I could not watch you walk away knowing the dangers that are out there. Knowing how ill prepared you are if a true monster were to attack you."

"So…" The words formed in my head, but it was a struggle for them to pass my lips. "You want to help me?"

He nodded once.

Not a single thought flitted through my mind for a while, it was as if my whole being had gone completely numb.

What did this mean? He wanted to help me?

"I...don't understand."

He sighed and began walking again. "You don't need to understand, you just need to get stronger."

Without thinking about it, I followed him. He brought us further down the hall, and then we were walking through a huge, open space where the entire wall to the left was made of glass. By now, the sun was started to creep out, filtering between the wispy clouds scattered before us.

There were couches strewn about elegantly, small tables lay before them. A fireplace rested up to the wall on the far side of the room with even more chairs and couches nearby. It was a large living room.

Unlike the hideout I had first awakened in, this place was much more light, more liveable it seemed.

As we walked through it to get to the other side, I couldn't believe that Sasuke walked right through the loose sunbeams cutting their way across the room without a second thought.

"You can walk in the sun already?" Fear gripped me, my throat tightening and a cold sweat forming at the back of my neck. So, it was possible then, vampires could walk in the sun without any repercussions anymore. There truly was no safe time anymore.

He shook his head as somber words spilled from him. "No, the windows in my house have all been spelled so that the sun has no effect on me when the light comes through them."

So, we were still safe for now. Though, I felt an odd sense of pity from his obvious moroseness.

He opened a set of double doors and lead me through them. Before us was a large, round room. The myriad of deadly weapons mounted along the walls truly was a sight - swords, spears, bows, daggers, and more. There were also dummies lined along the curved wall that looked to have been beaten many times over the years.

The left side of the room rose with a couple steps, creating a viewing platform.

I walked to the center of the room and spun around slowly, really taking it all in. "This is some training room you have here."

He gave a smirk before joining me in the center. "It's gotten a lot of use. Suigetsu likes challenging me to spars."

"Vampires spar?" I asked, never really having that image in my head before.

"Yes, of course we do. Hunters aren't the only ones who want to hone their skills."

I'd really only thought of vampires as monsters without the capability of rational thought. I mean, I knew they could be semi-human in their actions and thoughts, but Sasuke was really throwing a wrench into my beliefs.

"Things are...different with you," I said. "How come you're so...so…"

"Captivating?"

I shifted the weight from my right leg to the left and stared at him with wide eyes. "No! That's not what I was going to say. I was going to say deliberate or something."

"I much prefer captivating." The corner of his mouth just barely lifting in the presence of this ongoing joke of his.

I couldn't help but roll my eyes at him. "Like that! How are you capable of joking around?"

"Ah," he sighed. "I see the Academy isn't doing a great job of preparing its students for what a real vampire is like."

"Yes," I screamed, too excited that he was able to get my line of thinking. He flinched a bit at my volume. "Sorry, but yes. I don't get it, why have they just been teaching us that vampires are mindless, bloodlust-filled demons when here you are being so-"

His eyes lit with mirth.

"Rational," I finished, my eyes flitting around the room. "Not captivating."

The smirk remained on his face as he turned away from me, walking over to the nearest wall filled with weapons. His fingers lightly traced them absently. "For the most part, their teachings are accurate. The lower form vampires are monsters for the lone sake of savagery itself. They crave the chaos that killing brings, the more blood they can take the better for them. They are the young ones."

"But, not you?"

"No, not me. There are many vampires who are capable of rationality as you so put it. They are mainly older, though even among the ancient ones you will find they can still be just as vicious in other capacities."

"How come we don't learn that then?"

He picked up a shiny dagger, twirling it around in his hand, inspecting it from the hilt to the tip. "I imagine that it's because they haven't gotten their hands on any of us like that. We are too careful when it comes to hunters. It's the young ones you run into on missions, those are the ones that get captured and studied."

I blew an impatient puff of air and fisted my hands over my hips. "I've only been on one mission, and I was taken by that Suigetsu. I still haven't run into any young vampires yet."

A look of pain shot over his features. "Then all the more reason for me to train you."

A rush of hot anger came through me. "I am strong!"

He nodded. "I'm not saying that you aren't. I'm just saying that you could be stronger. I can't have you out there in the world getting taken by someone other than me. There are far worse fates you could meet if that were to happen."

"Why do you care so much about me?" I asked, wanting to know the answer for some time now.

But, he didn't give me an explanation. He put the dagger back in its spot and strode back to me, and said, "Training starts now, Sakura."

His fist burst forward so quickly that I barely dodged it, throwing my weight to the side just to be hit by an oncoming kick.

My body crashed to the ground, rolling over a couple times before I pushed myself back into a standing position.

Sasuke stared at me, his eyes unflinchingly resolved.

And I was finally able to grasp what this was. This was a chance to fight a full-fledged vampire, to learn their weaknesses and grow to be that much more of a capable hunter, a dangerous fighter. The Academy could never have given me such an opportunity.

A smile cracked across my lips, causing a brief glint of confusion to show in Sasuke's eyes.

"Careful what you wish for, Sasuke."

And I attacked.

XXX

**So, I'm going to be doing something different with my writing! At the end of any chapter, I'm going to post a Q&A session to let you learn more about me! If you don't want to know, then that's okay, you can just skip passed them. XD But, now it's time to get to know meeeeee better: **

**Q: What weird food combinations do you really enjoy?**

**A: So my absolute weird thing to eat is cottage cheese with nacho cheese Doritos. Yes, haha I use the chip as a shovel into the cottage cheese and then eat them both at the same time. It's utterly delicious, and you should try it! What about you? What weirdo food thing do you eat?**


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto!**

**XXX**

I had no idea how long we were in that room training for, but it didn't bother me one bit. I reveled in the exhaustion that came afterward, that sense of putting in a good amount of sparring that I haven't been able to do in a while.

And throughout the whole thing, Sasuke was very instructional.

He would stop our attacks to point out a better spot to aim for, a more realistic way to move against a skilled vampire. I soaked it all in, retaining it thoroughly.

We stopped when Yuko interrupted us, a series of knocks at the door. Sasuke opened it for her, and she said, "Lunch will be ready in a short while, sir."

"Thank you," he said and gestured for me to leave through the door with a nod of his head. "Yuko can show you where to get cleaned up, and then we can eat."

Without answering, I walked up to Yuko, who gave me a small smile. I shot Sasuke a quick glance before toting after the young woman. Even though I was grateful for the helpful information he gave me today, it was all still so weird to comprehend the logistics of what was actually going on.

Yuko brought me back to the room I'd woken in, this time walking in and opening a door I hadn't noticed before that sat at the opposite side of the bed. Behind it was revealed to be a bathing room. An elegant tub had already been filled with water, heat rising from its surface in a lazy manner.

She opened a slight closet door to the right. "This is where the linens are kept," she said while handing me the white towel.

She nodded back at the room. "Changes of clothes have been prepared for you, and they can be found in the dresser."

"Uhm...thank you," I said awkwardly, not really sure how they already had clothes for me to wear.

She smiled, the gesture reaching her eyes in a sincere manner. "If you ever need anything, don't hesitate to ask me or any of the other staff members."

My head tilted to the side. "There are others working here?"

"Yes, a few of us are under master Sasuke's employ."

"Do you...like working for Sasuke?" I wanted to form my thoughts correctly. "He doesn't...he's not controlling you into staying somehow?"

At this, Yuko was offended. "Master Sasuke has been nothing but kind to me and the others. He has taken us in and given us a safe place to reside. I am very grateful for his protection." Her words were clipped, and when she was done she made her exit. She only turned briefly to give an obligatory bow, and then she shut the bedroom door resolutely behind her.

That was...strange. If they weren't being forced, they were here of their own free will. Their own desires being to serve a vampire.

So...Sasuke protects them? Protects them from what? Are there other vampires after them?

I couldn't stop thinking of it throughout my bath, but then another thought resurfaced when I stood before the dresser and took in all the clothes folded within. They were pretty basic, nothing fancy. Training pants and shirts, as well as sleeping attire and everyday clothes to just wear around.

How had they all got here? And how did they all look to be my size?

I pulled on black leggings and a red shirt, and then combed fingers through my hair as I stepped foot outside the room.

The realization that I had no idea where to go to eat came to me as I automatically began walking in the direction of the training room.

A man had just rounded the corner before me and his eyes lit with excitement. He appeared to be in his mid 60s, his white hair thinning atop his head and a bushy mustache lay atop his upper lip.

"Miss, it is a pleasure to meet you. My name is Banri, and I've come to show you to the dining room."

"Thank you," I said, nothing more. I still couldn't understand why these workers were so nice, and yet they were working for Sasuke, a vampire.

He brought me down a hallway that lead to an open area, the entrance had no door, but rather a tall archway. The table was a beautiful wooden structure with matching chairs, and a chandelier hung in the center above it.

Sasuke was sitting down at the end of the table looking over a bunch of papers, his brow furrowing in thought. He barely even looked up when I slid out the chair to the left of his.

But, as I sat down, he swiftly gathered the papers up and handed them to Banri. "Put those back in my room."

Banri grabbed them up. "Yes, sir." And then he left.

It was just the two of us now.

"How many people work for you? They all seem to be human, so why do you have humans here? Yuko seemed thankful to be here even, how is that? Why aren't they scared of you?"

The side of his mouth tilted slightly after the questions left my mouth in a whirlwind. But, rather than answering me, all he did was stare.

Well, I stared right back.

A dark chuckle escaped him then. "You don't seem to fear me, why should they?"

It was true, and it still shocked me. I really didn't fear him, not in the way that would have me cowering in the corner. Sasuke wasn't about to hurt me, though I constantly reminded myself that he was more than capable.

"But...how did they come to be here? You don't seem like someone to keep humans around for their own good."

His eyes glossed over then, clearly his mind bringing him to a different time, his past swimming before him.

"They each have a different story," he finally said. "Though, they are not mine to tell."

Okay, well I knew of at least one story for him to tell.

"Then tell me the time of when we met."

His eyes whipped to mine so instantly that it was jarring, and it made me sit up straighter. His mouth set in a tight line.

He did not speak.

"That is your story to tell," I said. "You were there, and I was there. But, I don't remember anything aside from your voice. Tell me what happened."

He held my gaze for a moment further before it traveled towards the ceiling. The silence in the room was deafening, stifling even. I wanted to drag the words from him, force him to talk.

But, then Yuko came in with a plate of food in each hand. Her bubbly smile felt wrong as she encroached our immediate area to set the plates on the table.

"Enjoy," she said. I looked down at the plate of roasted chicken and vegetables, and interestingly enough, the same thing was on Sasuke's plate.

"You eat...food?" I asked, dropping the subject of our meeting for the moment in light of this revelation.

Without speaking, he picked up his fork, speared a carrot slice, and popped it in his mouth. He chewed slowly before answering. "My body functions similarly to that of a human. The blood is just a necessity to remain functional, but other forms of food keep my body going in between feedings."

I cringed at the last word, which had Sasuke sobering.

"You asked me how we met," he said. "I will tell you soon, but not today."

I picked up my fork and began pushing the vegetables around. "What's with the change of heart?"

"I am a monster, Sakura. I need to remind you of that before our time here comes to an end."

XXX

Sasuke left me alone for the rest of the day, telling me that he had work to attend to, and he would not let me accompany him no matter how much I begged.

He just gave me an amused look before completely vanishing from sight.

Without anything to do, I wandered aimlessly around. It was a big place, Sasuke's home, and I was already tired of not knowing where things were located.

Something interesting I found was that I was unable to open the training room doors. It didn't appear to be the normal manner of being locked, but rather it was spelled shut.

Huh, that was going to be something else to talk to Sasuke about.

Other than that, there was nothing all that interesting. A bunch of empty guest rooms, the kitchen, dining room, a large library, the huge living room with the glass wall, rooms labeled with names on them, which I took to be the worker's rooms as I recognized Yuko and Banri's names on two of them, so I did not open those ones.

There was a lone door that was different from the rest, the black door much more ominous than the others. This room, too, I was unable to open as it was spelled shut. I took this to be Sasuke's room.

After meandering around without finding anything, I finally stumbled upon a room that was surprising. I rushed in and closed the door behind me. The room was dark, barely lit aside from a small light emanating from the center of the room.

It reminded me of the sun bomb that Sasuke showed me deep under the ground. This orb was settled upon a pedestal in the center of the room and glowed in a light silvery color. I approached it carefully.

Smoke swirled and played within the confines of the crystal, and when I reached out to touch it, the same smoke moved faster and faster until Tsunade's face came into view.

My eyes widened and I snatched the orb up in both my hands, running a thumb over my sister's face.

No sound came from it, just the flash of images. The scene changed to show the rest of my team, Ino, Naruto, and Sai. All of them looked worried, well save for Sai who looked like his same stoic self.

I couldn't get close enough to it, my nose was practically touching the smooth surface as my eyes soaked in the images.

The scene changed again, this time my mom's face filled the tiny orb. She was crying, her head held in her hands as silent sobs escaped her.

"Mom," I whispered, my eyes stinging a bit from underlying tears.

Not even thinking about it, I took the orb with me as I left the room. I made my way back to the large living space, settling into a plush chair facing the outside world. Night had begun to fall then, the dark sky sweeping across the horizon.

Those earlier clouds had been swept away with the afternoon wind, making way for the breathtaking view of the valley below.

My earlier thought was correct, we were up so high, situated into the side of a mountain. The drop below was great, it would mean instant death for a human like me if I were to fall from this height.

Sasuke living up high must mean something, he must find safety in these locations. Or, perhaps he figured that no one would come after him here.

Either way, it didn't seem important right now, just a fleeting thought as I stared into the orb.

The images just kept switching from my team to my mom, and they were very worried still.

What was this orb? Did it show them in real time? In the future? How did it show me these specific individuals?

"I knew you would find the Eye of Amavi."

Sasuke's voice cut through the silence, and I turned to see where it had come from. He stood a far way away as he stared at me and then the orb within my grasp.

I pulled it to my chest, protecting it. "Eye of...Amavi. What does it do?"

He strode over to me then, his gaze utterly captivating. "It shows you the person or people that you want to see."

I looked down into it again, the same people swam in the smoke.

"I am sorry I had to take you from them to bring you here," he said. The remorse in his voice was apparent, the statement obviously the truth. "But I stand by why I did it."

There was nothing that I thought to say to that.

He came even closer then, kneeling down before me. "You may write to them if you wish. I can get it to them."

My mouth fell open a bit. "Really?"

He nodded once.

A small smile graced my lips. "I'd love that. Thank you."

He stood, walking over to a nearby table. He pulled out a hidden drawer from its side, withdrawing papers and a pen. Handing them to me, he said, "Whenever you are finished, I will have them delivered."

I took the items in hand, staring at him in surprise. "I thought you wanted me to see that you were a monster. This isn't exactly helping your case."

He gave a slight glare at my words before stalking away.

I couldn't help but smile. No, this was not the act of a monster.

**XXX**

**Question timmeeeeeeeee**

**Q: What's the funniest TV show you've ever seen?**

**A: THE OFFICE OBVIOUSLY! Can anyone disagree with me? No, you can't, I will fight you! I have been watching it on repeat for like the last ten years of my life. XD I can quote almost everything in it, and know so many facts that it's crazyyyyy! I will never ever ever ever get tired of that show. :')**


	12. Chapter 12

_Dear Tsunade,_

_I know you won't really believe me, but I am alive and safe for the moment, you don't need to worry about that. I will remain alive for the near future as well, no harm will come to me as long as I stay here. It's not like I have a choice really, the vampire who has me won't let me go until I train with him. I can't even write his name down in this letter because he's so paranoid, the jerk._

_I've been told that even if you were to have a locator spell done for me that it wouldn't work because where I am is completely untraceable. I don't know the exact intricacies of this place, but I can tell that there's powerful magic at play. In the few days I've been stuck here, I have already looked for ways out, but all the doors are spelled shut and the windows are unbreakable. I can't get out of here, I've tried everything I can think of._

_Sorry, there's not much else I can include in this letter about who I'm with or any details of the location or else he won't let me send it._

_Tell everyone that I'm okay, and I miss you all. Especially mom, tell her please?_

_Love, Sakura_

I looked it over a few more times once I finally got it the way I wanted. Since Sasuke gave me the paper two days ago, I've been through many versions that have been shot down by him. The first one was riddled with all sorts of information on who had taken me, the view from the windows I could find, the sun bomb and the like. Sasuke snatched it from my hands and then shook his head, each time telling me what I had to take out.

This time it had to be acceptable.

I watched as his eyes roved across the words, his mouth quirking up when he got to a certain point before returning to its normal straight line.

"Liked when I called you a jerk, didn't you?" I called him out for it.

"When you say you've observed that my windows cannot be broken, how did you come to that conclusion?" he asked cooly.

I suddenly found interest in the fabric of the couch I was standing against, tracing the line where the different pieces met and were sewn together.

"I leave for only a few hours every day and you immediately seek to break my things."

I snorted. "I highly doubt you care for anything that I could get my hands on. The stuff you really want to protect are shut behind locked doors. Why is it that I can't get into the training room when you're not here?"

He straightened from the chair he'd been sitting in and strode over to the glass wall, looking out over the expanse of mountainous terrain. "It's not only when I'm not here, it's always."

I rose an eyebrow and crossed my arms in front of my chest, waiting for him to elaborate.

He finally turned back to face me. "The door is spelled shut to anyone but me. I am the only one who is capable of opening it."

Thinking back on the last few days, it had been he who opened the doors when we trained. I hadn't even so much as touched the handle; he made sure to be the first one there.

"Why is that?" I asked.

He gave me a dark smirk. "Because, Sakura, no matter how comfortable our back and forth may get, I know what you are, and I know what I am. I do not wish to be dead, not yet when I still have something to accomplish."

I focused in on the _not yet_ part of his explanation. "Do you wish to die, though? One day?"

My question made him pause, reflect on what he truly wanted. Being an immortal seemed like such a daunting fate, to live on for all eternity was too long of a life. After a while, did it all become meaningless? Things that once held his affection, once gave him pleasure, did they no longer mean anything to him? I had always pictured the passing of time for a vampire to be a cruel thing.

"Yes, one day," he said. "I should have died long ago."

We still haven't talked much about Itachi, and I still didn't have an answer as to how Sasuke and I met in the past either. He had remained unwavering in my pursuit of these two topics that I continued to broach.

"Just tell me about it already," I said. "Tell me about Itachi, and about the day I met you. I just...have the feeling that there's a connection between the two."

He rolled up my letter into a neat scroll and rose from the chair, starting to walk down the hall.

I followed close behind him, all the while waiting to hear some sort of response. Most likely I would get the 'Not now' answer that he'd always given.

"I think I will tell you," he said, his voice completely flat.

My eyes widened and my mouth slightly parted. "Seriously?"

He brought us through the halls until he stopped outside his bedroom door, the one that I haven't been able to open either. My breath halted as I waited for him to turn the handle. More than anything, I just wanted to get a glimpse at what lay beyond, what Sasuke adorned his room with.

Before he did so though, he cut me a look, making me straighten my spine.

"I have no doubts that you have already tried and failed to open this door," he said, pausing for a bit, daring me to even think of disagreeing.

Well, I could not.

So, he continued. "It is spelled shut with the same spell as the training room, only I may open it. What lay beyond is my living quarters, which also contains my falcon keep. This means that you may not send off letters without my knowledge."

I waved my hand. "Yes, yes, I get it."

His features shone with mirth. "And that does not bother you?"

"Of course it bothers me," I said. "But, I can understand concepts regardless of my emotions towards them; I'm not an idiot, Sasuke."

The side of his mouth quirked up, his amusement lingering as he turned his face away from me to open the door.

He walked in and I followed.

The door led down two paths, left and right. To the left lay another door, which was propped open halfway, revealing a slight living space and a loft above holding a grand bed.

I didn't get to see much else of it as Sasuke turned right and continued down that path, which led to the falcon keep Sasuke just mentioned. There were five or so birds lining the far wall, all tucked into individual alcoves that contained perches. To my surprise they were not in cages, but rather they were able to fly about the room as they wished. It wasn't a particularly huge room, but it still surprised me that Sasuke allowed the birds to live uncaged.

He went to the closest bird, picking up a small harness that lay beneath it.

I watched in awe as he donned the harness around the creature. Sure, back at Konoha, messenger birds were used often, but I'd never seen the process it took to get the falcon ready.

And Sasuke was...so gentle with it.

Harness on, Sasuke dropped my short, rolled up paper into the carrying tube strapped to the falcon's back. The bird hopped onto Sasuke's outstretched arm, and the two of them went to the high arching window.

Sasuke unlatched the glass and guided the bird near it in one fluid motion. "Konoha," he said and jerked his arm forward so that the bird took off in a flurry. He watched after it for a few moments before latching the window back into its locked state.

His eyes slid to me then, a seriousness weighing within them that was not there this morning. The memories being trudged up to the front of his mind in preparation of my long awaited explanation.

A sigh escaped him and he gestured for me to exit the room. I hesitated before conceding. But, when I made it back to the entrance, I stopped and stared into his room just a few paces ahead.

His voice filled the empty hall. "What's wrong?"

I instantly bristled, standing up straight. "Nothing." Turning left to walk out the door, I caught a glimpse of Sasuke's calculating look. "What?" I asked defensively.

He observed me for a few seconds before repeating my own answer back to me. "Nothing."

"Well, all right then," I said and stomped out of there. I didn't even stop to see Sasuke close the door, I just kept walking until I made it back to the large living area.

I took a seat on one of the plush chairs and waited for Sasuke to join me in the room. He was about a minute behind me, and he took the seat directly in front of me. He leaned over, putting his elbows on the tops of his thighs as he once again leveled me with a calculating look. His hands were clasped together, holding something.

"Just start talking, enough with the staring silently," I said.

Rather than being met with one of his smirks from my quip like I was expecting, his lips remained in a thin line, no longer willing to joke around with me.

"I told you this before, but I'm going to remind you once again. I am a monster, Sakura. I am not one you want to befriend, not an individual you should associate with once we are done here."

My lips parted as I took in every word, the spelled sunshine running through the windows and cascading over my lap, warming me somewhat when the air around us felt so chillingly cold and stagnant.

He opened his hands to show me a small rigid crystal. It was a muted purple with a crack of black along its side.

"Rather than tell you, I thought I would show you," he said. "This will allow you to see my memory of the day we met."

I scooched forward in the chair, leaning in closer to view the small crystal.

He continued. "What you will see is...graphic and will probably cause you tremendous grief. Are you still willing to look?"

Silently I nodded. My whole life I'd remembered his voice, replaying it over and over again until it created a permanent imprint in my brain. Of course I would look, how could I not?

He didn't look pleased by my answer, but handed the crystal over to me regardless. I chose this, he respected that at least.

I held the crystal lightly in my fingers, brushing my thumb across its rough surface. "How does it work?"

"It's a memory stone, capable of holding in a particular memory that one does not want to slip away." He stood and walked over to me, taking the seat on the left side of the couch. "I must take you there."

It was then that he lifted his hand and gave me a questioning look. I lay the crystal flat in my palm and held it out. But, rather than taking the crystal back, he covered it and laced his fingers with mine.

The sudden contact made me jump, and bumps lined the top of my arm nearest him. There wasn't much time to dwell on it though because a second later I was transported, hurtling through darkness and time.

I was back in Konoha. It looked the same, maybe a few different buildings here and there, but I knew I was standing in my village.

Something stopped me as I made to walk down the sidewalk, and I looked down to see Sasuke's hand was still entwined with mine. I made to escape his grasp, but he held firm to it.

"Don't," he said. "If you break contact with me, the memory will stop."

Begrudgingly, I stilled my movements. The warmth of his hand had my mind constantly wandering to it, feeling the calluses from years of training, fighting. The way it fit mine so seamlessly was-

Before us, a couple emerged from around the corner of a building, walking between them was a small child. A young girl with pink hair.

"That's me," I said numbly. "And there's mom. Then that's…"

My eyes glossed over at the sight of my dad. I had very few memories of him as he'd died when I was little. Being able to see him alive and well, even smiling at my mom had brought up such a feeling from within that I had to blink back the tears before they'd start falling.

I felt Sasuke's eyes on me, but I was unable to tear my gaze from the happy family before me.

"Your dad," Sasuke finished, his voice more pained than I'd ever heard it before.

Without thinking, I took a step in their direction, but then something else came into the vision. A dark figure stalked across a nearby building above, slinking so silently that there was no way the family could have known they were being watched, followed, hunted.

Just as the family walked another block, the figure jumped before them.

Dad was closest to the dark figure, so he was the first victim. The figure tore into his throat and blood went everywhere, all over mom and all over the younger version of me.

Mom screamed, pulling me into her arms and backing away, crushing the young me to her chest as if that was all the protection I needed from the monster before them.

I watched on in horror as my dad was tossed to the side by the figure, his body lying limp and lifeless on the cold cement, blood continuing to pool out around him.

Now it was just mom and me.

"_No!_" I pulled on Sasuke's arm and then we were running to get to them. When I reached the figure, I kicked out my leg in an attack, but it just phased right through him.

Sasuke firmly, but gently, tugged on my arm, bringing me back to a standing position at his side. "Sakura, this has already happened. You can't do anything about it in my memory."

"Then-" I looked to the figure's face, my breath halting as a rush of uncertain heat flowed through me.

And I stared into the face of my dad's murderer.

Midnight hair.

Shining red eyes.

**XXX**

**Dun dun duuuuuuuunnnnnnn! Whoever could it beeeeee? ;)**

**Q: What movie quotes do you use on a regular basis?**

**A: Well, not so much movies, but I am constantly referencing The Office, Spongebob, or Adventure Time. Every moment of my life can be made better by comparing it to one of those three things. Plus, I can do a pretty good LSP voice, so it just makes the reference even better. :)**


	13. Chapter 13

The dark hair, the red eyes of the attacker were prominent, familiar. And yet, it wasn't Sasuke.

I let out a shaky breath at knowing Sasuke wasn't the one to kill my dad. Turning to him, I said "It wasn't you."

He gave a grim shake of his head before returning his attention back on the scene unfolding before our eyes. "It was Itachi."

Mom turned to run, but was quickly stopped Itachi who had grabbed her shoulder and spun her around. She let out another terrible scream that sent younger me wailing, my young eyes scrunched shut against the horror.

Before Itachi attacked, though, a new figure darted out and dragged him away from the pair of innocents. Mom then crumpled to the floor, still holding me tightly in her arms.

And there he was, now standing between my mom, me, and Itachi.

Sasuke.

He looked just the same, but a raw fury set his features ablaze. "Itachi," he breathed out through gritted teeth. "Enough of this."

Itachi looked over his brother, sizing up the situation silently. He straightened his spine, wiping the blood from his bottom lip and chin as he sent Sasuke a look of amusement.

"Dear brother, you finally caught up to me it seems."

Memory Sasuke looked to my fallen father, a look of distaste coating his gaze. "You're not yourself. Why have you come back here?"

Itachi's fingers twitched at his side, a look of pure manic washed over him. "I've actually never been better."

Then he attacked.

Itachi lashed his hand out to Sasuke's throat, but Sasuke immediately jutted his fist up into the oncoming arm, sending Itachi's own into the air.

Sasuke then sent a quick jab at Itachi's stomach, to which Itachi effortlessly dodged by moving to the side.

"Still not strong enough," Itachi rasped before jumping back, standing perfectly still.

A low growl escaped Sasuke's throat. "Say that to me again."

Sasuke leapt at his brother, and the two of them broke into a series of skilled fighting maneuvers. They were moving so quickly, it was difficult to keep up with who made what move.

We stood there, Sasuke holding onto my hand tightly, as the two of us bore witness to this moment from long ago. I stole a glance at Sasuke beside me; his face was taut and his eyes were solely focused on his fight with Itachi. The red of his eyes, of his foresight ability, watching closely, no doubt looking to find any mistake he'd made from back then.

The fighting stopped, causing me to look back at the pair of Uchiha brothers.

Itachi gave Sasuke a crazed look. "Stop coming after me, Sasuke. You won't like what you find."

Memory Sasuke gave him a questioning look, but said nothing.

Itachi then clapped his hands together and he vanished with a resounding _smack_.

Sasuke squeezed my hand and said, "I could no longer feel him. Whatever he'd done had sent him far away, beyond the scope of Konoha, perhaps even the entirety of the Land of Fire itself."

As he spoke, I watched the look of defeat cross over memory Sasuke's face, the sides of his mouth turned down and his eyes scanned the area.

He then brought his attention to me and my mother, still huddled nearby on the sidewalk. Unadulterated fear and panic coated my mother's face, her body seizing up so badly she was unable to move.

Sasuke walked over to them, walking around the corpse of my father.

He stood before them. "I'm sorry."

My mother said nothing, and I continued to cry in her arms, staring up at the strange male.

A passing emotion flitted over memory Sasuke's eyes then. I couldn't name it, but whatever it was had him speaking to me more.

"You both are safe for now. I can hear the hunters on their way, they will be here shortly."

Younger me stopped crying then, just sniffled as she continued to stare at him. My mom still unable to speak as she stared at my father's body.

"What's your name?" memory Sasuke asked.

"S...Sakura," young me said.

He remained standing straight, arms hung loose at his sides. "Sakura," he said, the same tone, inflection that I remembered from so long ago. "Until next time."

And then he was gone, running down the street in a flash of speed.

Sasuke tugged on my arm, bringing my attention back to him. "Time to go," he said and let go of my hand, his fingers trailing mine slowly before we were finally disentangled from each other.

I was thrust back into my body on the couch.

Immediately, I stood, the crystal falling from my palm to thud against the wood floor. The sound echoed in my ears as my breathing quickly increased.

Sasuke stood up in front of me, moving his arms forward, but then thinking better of reaching for me, of touching me in any way, so they just went back to his sides, hanging there in their uncertainty.

Try as I did to hold it all in, a tear slid down the side of my face.

I'd just watched my father die. I'd watched as he was killed and could do _nothing _about it. It was the most useless I'd ever felt in my life.

Over his hesitation, Sasuke reached up and brushed the tear away with his thumb. The warmth of his touch broke me.

"Don't touch me," I rasped, jerking out of his reach, walking over to the glass wall to look out over the expanse of mountains.

Silence, and then his footsteps sounded as he walked across the room and left through the hall.

I was alone then, and I couldn't hold it any longer. Sobs bubbled out of me from deep in my gut, the sounds wrenching and guttural and thick. I wrapped myself in them, sliding down to the floor as I thought of nothing but that horrid experience.

XXX

Night came slowly. I watched as the stars and moon stretched out before me, coating the lands in a darkness that resonated with my own.

My crying had long since subsided, my face brittle from the dried tears caking my skin.

"Miss?"

Yuko startled me enough to look her way. She stood ten or so feet from me, her face holding a quiet gentleness. "Are you hungry?" She held up a tray, and I could smell it from my spot on the floor.

My stomach grumbled at the smell before I could tell her no. I looked to the right, biting the inside of my cheek.

She walked over and placed the tray on the floor beside me. Turkey slices, corn, string beans, and golden potatoes lay upon the plate, a glass of water just beside it.

She leaned over and laid her hand upon my shoulder, giving it a tight, comforting squeeze before taking her leave.

I limply took up the fork, pushing the food around in a lazy manner. Eventually, I popped some into my mouth, savoring the flavors.

Footsteps sounded nearby, and Yuko had come back just as quickly as she left. A resolute expression upon her face this time.

"I know it's not my place," she said strongly, "but, what is wrong? Master Sasuke would not say, he just told to send food for you."

Her boldness surprised me, though I continued to push around the food on the plate.

She came over and knelt before me. "Speak. It does not help to keep things inside."

I couldn't help but grimace. "I'm not...good at expressing feelings."

"You become good at something the more you do it," she said. "If you will not talk to Master Sasuke about it, would you tell me instead?"

My fork stalled. "So you can run to Sasuke and tell him what I said?"

She glared at me. "I would never do something like that. I want to talk with you because you are upset. It's painful to see you like this."

The side of my mouth tugged at that. "Thank you, Yuko. You have been so kind to me, but I don't want to talk about it yet."

She studied me, her eyes searching, debating on what to say next. Finally, she said, "You know where to find me. If you ever need someone to talk to, I will always listen."

Now I did smile at her, a small, reverent smile, but one nonetheless.

XXX

Sasuke was not there in the morning for our usual training time. I waited at the door even though he usually knocks at my bedroom to walk with me.

No knock, no Sasuke. So I waited for a few minutes, but nothing happened; he did not deign to show up. I hesitated for only a moment before seeking out his living quarters.

Last night, I had barely slept, tossing among the sheets, constantly playing Sasuke's memory on repeat. I could practically feel the shadows under my eyes with each heavy blink, feel the weight of my restlessness.

I made it to Sasuke's door and knocked.

Nothing.

I knocked harder and listened for sign of movement from behind it.

Nothing.

"Sasuke! Where are you?"

More knocking and more yelling were not getting him to come out, if he was even in there to begin with.

"Fine," I said. "You want to sulk around some more, be my guest."

Turning away, I trudged to the library. The hours here were long without him, without company. I could always call on Yuko, but I felt intrusive somehow, like I was always interrupting her work.

The library was a grand space, cylindrical in shape. There were plush couches and chairs in the center of the room, reading lamps beside them upon small tables.

This is where I came to pass the time when Sasuke and I weren't training, when he disappeared for hours at a time. The characters in the books were my companions in my lonesome hours.

I ran my fingers across the spines as I circled the room, thoughts overwhelming me.

It was that night. I couldn't believe it was the night I'd heard his voice. The night I'd been daydreaming about, thinking about that silken beautiful voice was the night my father was murdered right in front of my eyes.

How could I have not remembered something like that?

The image of blood returned to me as my eyes landed on a red leather-bound book, the flash of blood that I'd pictured early on with Sasuke. That was my father's blood. The blood from when Itachi Uchiha murdered him right in front of me.

How.

How could I not remember that.

My own father butchered in front of me.

By Itachi Uchiha.

Itachi. Uchiha.

I was going to kill him.

I did not take a book from a shelf, but rather I slid to the floor, back against the myriad of books, and leaned my head against my knees.

Time passed, and I was unaware of how long exactly I'd been in there thinking of ways to end Itachi's life. A loud thud startled me, forcing me into a standing position, fists balled in front of my body ready to lash out if necessary.

Sasuke stood on the other side of the room looking at me, his face much more stoic than usual. He'd dumped a weapons belt on the nearby table, my sword attached to it along with a few knives and stakes.

"Put it on. We're leaving."

**XXX**

**Hey all, I'm not going to post a question on this one! Just want to rant for a bit about how nervous I am right now. Tomorrow I have an interview for a new job, and I am HOPING BEYOND HOPE that it goes extremely well. I really need to get out of my current job. My boss is a complete lunatic. It's just such a toxic environment now, I can't stand it. Mmmmmmmmm cross your fingers for me, wish me luck, all that jazz!**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Sooo, I think my interview went really well! Wish me luck, I should find out by the end of this week if I get the job or not!**

XXX

I scrambled after him, rushing to grab the belt and follow him as he left without even waiting for me. He brought me down the hall towards his room, but we stopped just short. He held his hand out to the wall at the left, running it against the smooth surface so confidently, that it looked rather strange.

A crack appeared then, running the entire height of the wall, before opening up completely to the outside world.

I couldn't believe it. My mouth hung slightly open as I walked passed him, down a short brick corridor before stepping out into the night air, grass swaying in a slight breeze.

The wall made a sound of shutting, and then Sasuke was standing next to me.

I spun around, stunned at being allowed outside again, and I was surprised to see that the wall had completely vanished.

"What...where are we?" I asked, turning to face him head on.

He would not meet my gaze, instead he reached out and wrapped something metallic around my wrist. The action so fast, so out of character, that I did not have time to pull away.

"Hey!" I tugged my arm back after he'd clasped the thing on. I tried to push it down, but it wouldn't fit over my hand, the metal band was too snug. "What is this thing?"

"It's to prevent you from being tracked while we're out here," he said, walking off into the night.

I trotted after him, all the while trying to get the stupid bracelet off of me. "Fine, but what are we _doing_?"

He kept walking, and he finally spoke up when I was about to ask my question again.

"You said before that you haven't fought a young vampire yet. I'm bringing you to one so that you can test your abilities against it."

The blood in my veins stilled, a chill running over me at his words. "Really?"

He only nodded in response.

A sense of excitement rang through me, followed by traces of nerves. The only vampire I'd ever fought in the field was that Suigetsu, and that was not a very long fight. I'd barely done anything at all.

And Sasuke had been great to spar against, but he still hadn't been fighting me with the intent to kill. So all of my vampire fighting experience comes down to fighting against adversaries that did not have the intent to kill.

This one would be vastly different.

My hands opened and clenched into fists as we continued our trek through a forest.

I needed to distract myself, get out of my thoughts.

"Where are we exactly?" I asked.

He ducked under a low hanging tree branch, and then turned to the right. "In the woods."

I rolled my eyes. "How did we get here? There are no mountains around, and your place is embedded into the side of one. It has to be some sort of transportation spell or something."

His voice remained completely flat, devoid of any emotion. "If you had already deduced as much then why bother asking about it?"

Okay, enough was enough.

I sped up, and grabbed him by the shoulder. At least, that was my intention anyway, but he moved so quickly that he was suddenly behind me instead. I just whirled around and glared at him.

"What's your problem?" I asked, the anger bubbling up to the surface so quickly, so strongly.

For a moment, I could have sworn that it was hurt dashing across his dark eyes, but in the next blink it was gone. He stared down at me with a blank expression. "We have to keep moving." And then he stepped around me, walking on through the dark foliage.

I groaned, balling my hands into tight fists, but couldn't find it in me to ask again. If he was going to keep shutting me down, then what would even be the point?

Eventually, we stopped moving, Sasuke beckoning me to stay low and quiet. We moved silently through the woods, coming to the edge at an open field.

I glanced out at the expanse of open land. Hills rolled over the grassy plains, and a path curved around them, one that travelers no doubt utilized in the light of day. But, something instantly felt off about it, something rotten that had my back straightening, all my senses heightening.

"What's wrong here?" Sasuke asked me.

I shook my head, unable to grasp the exact reason as to what the feeling of this place meant, so he pointed ahead. Squinting into the darkness, I could make out a small cave opening, only big enough to fit one person at a time.

It was there where my instincts were telling me that the ominous feeling was coming from. "There's a vampire in there," I said.

He nodded, and kept his voice down to a whisper. "Yes. I'd been looking for the perfect one to test you on, and this is it. He's fairly new, and waits for passersby as he sits in the cave."

"What do you suggest I do then?" I asked, not taking my eyes from the dark opening.

He sat in silence before he said, "What do you think you should do?"

This was all a test for me.

"I'm going to lure him out."

The walk to the cave was quiet, and I couldn't help but be slightly anxious with Sasuke's eyes at my back. He'd specifically told me that he would not interfere, that this was all on me.

I didn't need his help anyway, I was capable enough to dispatch this newly formed vampire. I was going to kill it quickly and then make my way back to him to shove it in his stupid face.

A scent of blood drifted to me on the night wind as it blew from the direction of the cave. My walk turned into a full out sprint then. If there was somebody already there being drained by the vampire, maybe I'd be able to save them.

It hadn't been visible from so great a distance before, but now that I was at the mouth of the cave I could see a source of light from deep within.

I hesitated, not wanting to go inside the cave. The vampire would have the advantage in there, I would have more luck drawing whatever was in there outside.

But then I heard the scream.

And I ran in.

XXX

I made sure to keep my footsteps quiet, wanting to have the element of surprise on my side, and a dagger was prepped in each hand.

The screaming continued, growing louder with each step I took.

When I reached the end of the tunnel, I inched my head slowly around the side to take in my surroundings.

Before me was a large opening, lit by a fire on the far side of the area. The smell of blood coated the air, sinking into my lungs.

A young girl was tied up near the fire, a vampire standing over her, his hand raised and dripping with her blood. He made to swipe at her again, and I moved.

I lunged into the space, running right at the monster.

He barely registered my presence in time, but managed to dodge any lethal blow. My right blade connected with the side of his arm, grazing only deep enough to create a tiny line against his shirt that slowly turned red.

A low growl escaped him, hissing at the wound I'd inflicted. He was a bit taller than me, shaggy blonde hair and a dirty complexion. He looked like he'd been surviving out here for a while now, picking off stragglers when dark finally crept over the hilly lands. His eyes were bloodshot, and his fangs were out.

"You'll regret that," he snarled before lunging at me, fangs bared in a menacing way.

I lashed out a kick that hit him in the stomach, sending him flailing backwards. I didn't give him time to react before I threw one of my daggers at him. He dodged to the right, but it gave me enough time to grab one of the stakes settled on my belt.

He eyed it angrily before lunging into another fury of attacks. I blocked his swipe with my left arm and pushed the stake at his chest.

Another arm reached out and grabbed mine, stopping the attack completely.

My head snapped to the right instantly, and my eyes landed on another vampire.

This one was much more put together, his clothes weren't dirty or ripped, and his short brown hair had been brushed neatly to the side. He stared down at me with a smile, fangs catching my attention.

I brought my left arm down at his immediately, looking to break our point of contact.

It worked, but I only barely had enough time to jump back, dodging an oncoming blow from the first blond vampire.

"Who're you?" I asked. Sasuke had only mentioned one newly formed vampire for this attack. I had no idea there would be another.

He smiled. "Bit of an odd question coming from someone who is about to be made into a meal."

I couldn't help but cringe.

The vampire only smiled deeper at that.

"Come on, Kane," came a third voice. A new vampire slunk from out of the darkness, from where the light from the fire couldn't reach. This one was a female, her long black hair hang low against her back, eyes dark and completely focused on me. "It's not nice to play with your food."

Three vampires. I was facing off against three vampires.

The brown haired one, Kane, walked towards the cave entrance slowly. I adjusted my stance to keep him in my sights.

I took a deep breath, and yelled for him. "Sas-"

But, Kane had brought his hand against the wall, right over a particular notch.

And the cave entrance shut.

**XXX**

**Q: ****What is the most unusual fear you have?**

**A: Lakes! Or any body of water in which I cannot see the bottom. Oh mannnn, just thinking about it sent a chill through me. I always think something's going to grab at me, pulling me under to my death. That or I'm going to step on some dead person. I can't even think about going in without an inner-tube, I just can't do it. **


	15. Chapter 15

A door of rock slid across the opening, effectively trapping me in the cave with three vampires.

My breath halted as I stood completely still, Sasuke's name trailing off unfinished on my lips.

"Great things, witches are," Kane cooed. "Lovely partnerships to make with them. One helped us craft this little trap inside this cave."

"You've been behind the missing people around here then?" I asked. "Not him?"

Kane followed my gesture towards the blond vampire. "Garnet? No. Although he has been useful in dragging them in here. But he answers to me."

"Enough explaining, Kane," the female snapped. "Time to eat."

Kane flipped his wrist. "Very well, Mina. If you want it so bad, you can have the first go at it."

The female, Mina, wasted no time in rushing at me in attack. I threw my leg out and connected with her jaw, sending her head snapping back with a sickening crunch.

She held her jaw for a second, looking at me completely stunned.

I lashed at her legs, ducking low and swiping at them with a kick aimed to knock her off her feet. She easily jumped out of the way and then made to grab at me with her long, spindly hands.

I grabbed onto her wrist and yanked her towards me. She lost her footing and I did not hesitate to drive my stake through her heart. She looked normal for a second before her skin began to darken, her eyes rolling up as she let out a piercing screech.

I yanked my stake back and she slumped to the ground, the sound of it echoing against the cold stone walls.

A growl came from Garnet, and Kane looked livid.

Garnet rushed me first, his face crazed and unfocused, letting his instincts take over for this fight. I blocked his oncoming strike by shoving my arm against his, sending him falling past me where he was met by my knee.

He grunted, the wind knocking out of him, and I slashed at his neck with my dagger. I managed to get a good cut in before Kane appeared next to us. His face came in close to mine, making me take the dagger out from Garnet's neck and right into Kane's oncoming hand.

Kane didn't so much as wince when his fingers encircled the blade rather than my neck. He just took it and threw it to the side, his blood spraying everywhere with the action.

I kicked him in the side, hearing his ribs crunch under the impact. He went down as Garnet jumped at me, pushing me to the ground, close to where my first dagger had been thrown.

The jagged cave floor bit into my back, ripping my shirt in a few different places there. I could feel my skin breaking as well, my blood would no doubt be soaking through my shirt any second.

Garnet seemed to smell my wound because he momentarily became so overwhelmed with the scent of blood that he ceased attacking. His arms settled against my shoulders, pushing me further into the ground as he continued to smell at the air around us.

Big mistake.

I snapped my head forward, crushing it against his nose. He reeled back, and I grabbed at my dagger lying just a foot away from me and slashed it across his throat.

Blood spurted from him, getting all over me, and I watched in horror as his head toppled from his body and landed on my stomach.

I would have thrown up if there hadn't been another vampire waiting around to kill me.

Swallowing the rising bile, I shoved Garnet's head and body off of me, snapping back to my feet, the dagger and stake held up in front of me as I faced off against Kane.

He looked to Garnet's body and then to Mina's before his eyes found mine again.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"Obviously not someone you had expected," I said, circling around the area, eyes never leaving him.

I took the offensive, charging at him first. My body running on instinct as all the lessons with Sasuke had already been paying off. The two vampires I'd just killed were because of all the sparring we'd done. I didn't think that I would have been able to pull that off from just my academy training alone.

Kane blocked my kick, holding his arms up to the side, and then grabbing at my ankle when I made contact. I winced at his tight grip, and then he threw me against the cave wall.

I could feel the blood crawl out from the corner of my mouth, running down the length of my chin, but didn't have time to wipe it away as Kane was upon me once again. He clasped his hand around my throat, hauling me up against the wall, my back stinging from the previous injuries being scraped against the unforgiving stone.

"No, I hadn't expected anyone so skilled to find their way into my trap," he said. "Foolish of you."

"You...think so?" I rasped out, the words barely forming from the pressure of his hand against my throat.

He gave me a toothy grin. "You're a spunky one, I'll give you that."

And I spat at his face.

His eyes closed then, and I brought up my legs, pushing both of my boots into his chest in one swift motion. He dropped me, and I fell to the floor with a crack.

Something was broken, but I refused to feel any of it. Not yet, not when he was still alive.

My adrenaline lifted me from the floor, diving at Kane while he wiped the spit from his eyes.

I unsheathed my sword and swung it at him. Hard. It went right through his waist, cutting him completely in half.

A shocked expression came to his face, but then it went completely slack as his split body crumpled to the floor, blood pooling furiously around him.

I stood there breathing quickly, my lungs couldn't keep up with how much I needed to breathe.

The girl near the fire cried out as she stared at me. She must not have been more than thirteen years old. It was an effort to tear my gaze away from the carnage before me, but I managed to make my way over to her.

"It's all okay now," I said. "Let's get out of here."

She gave another incoherent cry, but then wrapped her arms around me in a hug. Sobs bubbled from her in frantic breaths, but I couldn't find it in me to hug her back.

I unlatched her arms from me and pulled her into a standing position. I kept hold of her hand as we both walked back to the cave entrance. When I pushed my hand over the notch in the stone wall nothing moved, the exit remained blocked off.

I brought my hand off of it and tried again.

Nothing.

A groan escaped me as I dropped the girl's hand. She gave a squawk of protest, but I ignored her as I walked over to Kane's cut up body.

I gripped my sword and slashed it down at his wrist. The thunk was jarring, and I tried not to think too hard about picking up the severed hand and bringing it over to the stone wall. I put it up against the notch, and this time the stone wall slid away.

I dropped the hand to the ground right there and grabbed for the girl.

Sasuke was upon us in an instant.

The girl screamed, but he paid her no attention. Instead, he took my face in his hands, eyes frantically looking over everything.

He let out a short breath. "You're all right."

I pushed his hands off of me with a single motion. "Yes, I'm all right. I'm alive, and it's a miracle, Sasuke. What happened? I thought there was only supposed to be one vampire!"

He was puzzled by my words, but then he looked around, taking note of the three very dead vampires around us.

A glimmer of something flashed in his eyes, but then it was gone, and he couldn't bring himself to look at me. "I had no idea-"

"No idea? _Really_?" I said. "I thought you were scouting out the perfect test for me to start out with. You know, whatever, Sasuke. I'm fucking alive, so you did your job in training me, but this was a mistake on your end. A big one."

I yanked on the girl's arm probably a bit too harshly, but I couldn't help it. The rage was finding its way through every vein in my body.

We made it out of the cave, but Sasuke once again stood before me, effectively halting my footsteps. He grabbed my chin, tilting my face up so that our eyes may meet, but I did not dare. I looked anywhere but him: the forest to the right, the starry sky above.

"Sakura," he said. "Please look at me."

I felt it then, felt my own body want to betray me. All our time together had made me trust him, had made me feel safe around him. And where had it gotten me?

I did not look at him. "Get out of my way, Sasuke. I have to take this girl home." And then just thinking about it, I turned to her. "Where do you live?"

She pointed to the left, a path winding down a bit before curving off to the right, out of sight behind the outskirts of the forest and a large hill. I headed in that direction.

Sasuke walked beside me. "Sakura, I had no idea there were so many of them. I've been observing that one for days now and he has always been alone."

I kept walking.

He let out a frustrated sigh, and then I was lifted from the ground, as was the young girl I'd saved. Sasuke had scooped us both up, travelling the rest of the way using his superior speed. I could feel the irritation rolling off of him in waves, and glancing up at him had me feeling only a bit remorseful.

His mouth was set into a slight frown, his eyes glossed over. It was all so distant, pensive even. He looked like he wanted to say many things, but was unable to find exactly how he wanted to phrase it all.

The sudden stop he made had my stomach feeling queasy, my hair rushing forward as his arm gripped around me tighter before he set me down. He turned to the girl and was no doubt about to ask if that was her village up ahead, but she ran ahead of him before either of us could say another word. Her frantic gasps filled the night's silence as we watched her become smaller and smaller the closer she got to the village in the distance.

Sasuke turned to me then as she took a corner and disappeared behind a building. He looked like he was going to say something along the lines of everything else he'd been saying, but instead he said, "Let's go back."

He pushed back his sleeve, revealing a tattoo that twisted up with forearm, finishing up at the inside of his elbow. It was a simple design, and I watched with stilted breath as he bit down on his finger and ran the bloody thumb along the inside of his forearm.

Before us, the air began to shift, lines began to make themselves visible. Slowly, a doorway appeared - the same doorway that we had left through earlier.

When it had settled, I walked down the short brick hall and then walked jarringly into the familiar hallways of Sasuke's mountainside home. As soon as I took one step inside, I had to lean against the wall for support. The pain rushed at me then. As soon as I had felt a tiny bit of relief from being inside, my body screamed out. The fall I'd taken in the cave, the crack I'd heard echoing inside my head, finally caught up to me.

A groan passed my lips, followed by hissed breaths.

Sasuke reached out, putting his hand on my shoulder. "What's wrong?"

I wanted to throw his hand off me, but I physically was unable to do so. I bit the inside of my cheek in an attempt to stop moaning from the pain, but the sounds still came through.

He bit into his wrist and then held it up in front of me. "Here, drink it. It'll heal you."

I glared at it. "Never."

"Stop being stubborn," he said, leaning over so that our faces were on the same level. "Let me help you, I don't want you to hurt."

I finally looked into his eyes then. Even through my pain, I could see his sincerity, the honesty that rang throughout his every word, his every glance.

"Take me to my room," I gritted out between my teeth.

He measured my stubbornness, but whisked me away in another heartbeat. Pain shot down my side, but I was on my bed in the next instant.

He stood at the side of my bed simply staring down at me, but then he shifted spots to stand beside my bedroom door. "I'll be back. If you won't take my blood to heal you, I will find something else." Then he left.

No, I would not drink his blood, not when it meant I would be one step closer to becoming a vampire just like him. A monster of the night, a being who survived on drinking blood from humans.

Someone who had to battle for control, otherwise risk killing each and every living thing that crossed my path.

No.

I would rather die.

**XXX**

**Thank you to my reviewers, followers, and those who favorited this story! **

**To those who I can't personally respond to their reviews:**

**Kurouchi: Thank you for your kind words! :) Also, Sasuke's soft spirit is what I live for, he's just my cinnamon roll. ^_^**

**Angelicfrosty: Haha happy dayyyy, I'm posting another chapter so soooooonnnnn! I just can't wait to update, I'm writing this story like a crazy person. Seriously, I get into this mode where I type so fast and hard, and then my face is just inches from the computer screen. It's like I'm in a trance! Also, good luck to you too! I hope that they call you back and you get that job! :) **

**Now, onto my Q&A portion:**

**Q: What are you most looking forward to in the next 10 years?**

**A: I'm really excited to marry my best friend! :) And then starting a family with him, ooohhh you guys they are going to be cute, lil babies! Plus, I am hoping to have a few published books during that time as well! Also, moving down to Texas will be fun, getting away from this crazy midwest weather. XD **


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: Review shout-out time!**

**Thank you to SarahMarie! You made me smiiiiillllleeeee so big! Thank you so much for your kind words, I love to know that my story is finding a home out there in the world with your bookish heart. :) Sasuke is a cutie pie, isn't he? ;) P.S. Thank ya for your talks of Texas! I had to look up what HEB was though, because my midwest mind had absolutely no idea. XD Our grocery stores here (Or at least where I'm living) are predominantly called Jewel-Osco, fun fact there for ya.**

XXX

When I opened my eyes it wasn't Sasuke that sat beside my bed. No, it was that vampire who took and then brought me to him in the first place, Suigetsu.

Sunlight washed into the room, and I tried to remember what happened after Sasuke left my room last night.

"Finally awake, eh?" Suigetsu said.

I blinked slowly, turning my head on the pillow to face him fully. My body felt numb all over, and I couldn't move anything without seriously willing it to do so. "What are you doing here?"

His arms were crossed. "This is the thanks I get for healing you?"

Instantly, my body became hot with nerves. "What?" He fed me his blood? Even after I'd told Sasuke not to?

He grimaced, holding his hands up before him, palms out. "Don't get your panties in a bunch. Sasuke told me that under no circumstances should I feed you my blood. I was ordered to get you a healing drought. So, you're welcome and stuff."

"A...healing drought?" That would explain my inability to move correctly.

"You know. Something to make you feel better-"

"I know what it is," I snapped.

He clucked his tongue, flashing his fangs at me in a joking manner. "Touchy, touchy." He then leaned over, resting his elbows on the bed, resting his head against one of his balled up hands. "You broke something in your side. My guess is that it was your hip. When I came in, Sasuke was poking you to see where you were injured, and you made such a freaking loud yelp when he touched your hip. The sound just about killed my ears."

I could feel the heat come to my face at the image of Sasuke assessing my woulds. "I don't remember him doing that."

"Well, girlie, that's 'cause you were out cold," he said. "Must've been some break for you to cry out like that even when you were unconscious."

I wanted to get away from this topic. "Where is Sasuke now?"

Suigetsu shrugged, leaning back in his seat then. "He stayed here for a while, stalking around your room while we waited for you to wake up. I guess he couldn't take it anymore, so he left. Don't know where, but he's gone for now."

Putting my energy into moving was tiresome, and it took almost everything I had just to push myself into a sitting position. Suigetsu made an awkward move as to help me, but he stopped as I fixed him with a look.

"Open that drawer and give me the crystal orb," I said, pointing towards my bedside table.

He needed only to move his left hand a foot or so to grasp the tiny knob. He opened the drawer, but stilled as he took in the Eye of Amavi. "How did you get this?"

"I just found it in a room one day. Give it here."

Slowly, he moved his hand in to take the smooth orb out, then he quickly passed it off to me before anyone appeared that he was thinking about.

I rolled the orb in my hand, brushing my fingers across its surface, looking into its smoky, swirly depths. I did not think about my friends or family, I thought about Sasuke.

And his face materialized in the swirls before me.

There was no energy left in me to feel any sort of embarrassment as Suigetsu looked into the orb as well.

He appeared in the distance, slinking around a forest under a large cloak. Even though it was broad daylight he was walking around.

My brows furrowed. "Has he completed it? He can't have…"

Suigetsu shook his head. "No, the ritual hasn't been performed yet. Sasuke just does this because he's an idiot. I think he wouldn't mind if the sun ate him up one of these days."

I tilted my head to the side as I watched him traverse the forest. "No, he said he doesn't want to die yet, not with…" I stopped myself before giving too much away. I gave a nervous glance to Suigetsu, which he just returned with a solemn nod.

"Itach still out there?" he finished my sentence. "Yeah, that's true. But, sometimes he's still a stupid risk taker. I don't think any other vampire would chance feeding in broad daylight like he does."

_Feeding?_

My eyes turned back to the orb and I drank the scene in.

Suigetsu leaned forward then, taking in my sudden intensity. "Maybe we should put that thing away. It's not nice to spy on people."

"It's also not nice to knock them out and kidnap them," I snapped, clutching the orb tightly in my hands.

He was quiet for a while, but then finally said, "Fair enough."

And he let me watch.

He let me watch Sasuke move around trees, duck under low lying branches, maneuver with such an intense gaze upon his face that it was staggering.

In the distance, a plume of smoke wafted through the air, and Sasuke set a path for it. Eventually, he came upon a small area in the shaded forest, the sun only poking through a few spots in the canopy above. A lone woman sat near the fire, a pot hanging over it that she stirred every so often. A backpack sat only a few feet away. A traveler maybe?

He didn't hesitate as he swooped in, pulled her in his arms and whispered something to her. She went still then, not fighting at all to get away from him as he bit into her neck.

The orb fell from my fingers, dropping into my lap heavily. I turned my gaze away and threw the thing at Suigetsu, knowing he would take it easily.

"Put it away, I can't watch anymore."

"No," he said, urging the orb back at me. "You have to watch until the end otherwise you'll just assume the worst. And Sasuke doesn't deserve that."

I would not take it. I could not.

He pushed the orb into one of my hands, and I tried to fight him off but was easily overpowered in my weakened state.

"Watch," he ordered, pushing both my hands together on the orb with the both of his, leaving them laying over mine so I could not drop the orb even if I wanted to.

Sasuke was still feeding off the woman's neck, some blood trickled down the side of her neck, but she did not move away, did not scream for help.

Then he was finished, his fangs gleaming red as he tipped his head back from her neck. And she…

She was not dead.

He ran his thumb over her neck to smear the loose blood away, and he helped her maneuver into a sitting position, leaning her back against the base of a nearby tree.

And then he left her, running through the forest once again.

Suigetsu dropped his hands from mine, and I let the orb go, falling into my lap. I stared at it as Sasuke's face slowly faded, swallowed up by the wispy smoke.

My mouth hung open, unhinged slightly without knowing what words to form. Suigetsu took the orb from me and returned it to the drawer before anybody else's face could pop up. He watched me with careful eyes, waiting to hear my reaction. He made me watch, made me bare witness to Sasuke feeding, and he knew exactly what was going to happen. He knew Sasuke wouldn't kill that woman, knew that what I would see wouldn't end in death.

"You knew," I whispered, soaking in his telling face. "You knew he would let her live. He's done this before. Done it often."

He nodded. "Sasuke hasn't killed anyone for a long time. Fucking saint that guy."

"Why?"

"Why what?" he asked.

I looked down at my open hands, eyes following the lines etched across my palms. "Why does he let them live? How is he able to control himself like that?"

His eyebrows knit together, the side of his mouth quirking a bit. "You haven't guess that yet?"

"Can…" I pulled my fingers in to make fists. "Can all vampires do that? Do you all have the willpower to control yourselves?"

For a second, Suigetsu looked pained, but then the expression was quickly wiped from his features. "No," he struggled to get out. "Not all of us."

I opened my mouth, but then words failed me as the bedroom door opened. Sasuke stood there staring at me with such relief that it was overwhelming. Just moments before, I had witnessed him feeding off a human and he had absolutely no idea. No idea that the image of him biting into a woman and then letting her live was floating around in my mind as I stared back at him.

Suigetsu didn't say another word as he stood and walked out, turning his body as he past Sasuke, giving me one last look before disappearing from view.

A breath. Two. And then Sasuke strode to the bedside, looking down at me before kneeling on the floor, his arms resting on top of the blankets. I tried not to notice how close his fingers were to my legs, tried not to notice that I sort of wanted them to be closer.

"You're okay," he said, eyes never leaving mine.

I nodded. "Just a bit sore, but that's to be expected after consuming a healing drought."

He let out a soft sigh of relief. "I was worried when you didn't wake up."

I couldn't help the goading smile from shaping my mouth. "You mean you were worried that it would be all your fault if I were to die?"

He flinched, no manner of joking about him. "That is not what I meant."

I shrugged even though it was an effort. "Whatever. You know in your heart of hearts that it's true-"

"Sakura, I…" he snapped, but then reeled back, searching for the right words. "When that cave entrance shut, when I couldn't get inside, I…" His hand moved only a fraction before stilling, as if he wanted to reach for my hand but ruled against it. "I had no idea what was going on. I couldn't hear anything, couldn't sense you within."

"Makes sense," I said. "It was a spell, so it wouldn't surprise me if the whole place was warded against enemies like that."

The right side of his mouth dipped into a frown. He brought one hand back up to him, ran his fingers through his hair and then kept them there as he looked down at the blanket. "I don't know how it happened. I don't know how I only knew of the one and not the other vampires. For that, I am sorry."

I never thought he would apologize for it, but there he was saying the words.

"Sasuke-"

"But," he cut in, looking into my eyes once again. "I will say this. Even though it was a mistake on my end, I am glad to know your fighting is improving. You did an excellent job in dispatching them."

To hear the praise drip from his tongue was intoxicating. I wanted more of it.

"Does that mean you're going to go harder on me in training?"

He chuckled softly, the sound barely floating over to my ears. "Yes."

We stared at each other then, the two of us not speaking further. I drank in the sight of him, and he did the same to me. Losing ourselves in each other's presence, that's what we were doing. I knew it, and I bet he did too. Especially when a startled look took over his face and he quickly stood.

"Would you like me to get you anything?" he asked.

I shook my head. "I'm fine for now."

He nodded. "I'll leave you to rest then."

As he walked to the door, I found it in me to finally speak about it, to voice my thoughts, put them into tangible words. "I watched you feed."

His hand stilled on the handle, his back to me.

"I watched you," I said. "You found a woman in the woods, but you didn't kill her. You just fed on her for a few seconds before letting her go. Do you always do that?"

He would not turn around, would not face me.

"I saw it through the Eye of Amavi," I confessed. It was something he had allowed me to keep, something that he probably never thought would be used in such a way. He exposed himself, and now he was visibly trying to figure a way out of it, out of having this exact conversation.

"Get some sleep, Sakura," he finally said. "Yuko will be in to check on you in a while."

Then he shut the door.

**XXX**

**Poor Sasuke, such a sensitive one! ;) **

**Alas, y'all, I did not get that job that I was so excited for. I have no idea what happened, it went so well. I even have a coworker who said the boss really liked me. I'm having her use her contacts to spy for me, to see what happened. Blegh, I'm so annoyed and sad :( Tell me nice things about my story to make me feel betterrrrrrrrrr.**

**Q: ****What movie universe would be the worst to live out your life in?**

**A: Dude, you guyyssssss! So, backstory: I'd heard about fortnite, but didn't really look into it. One day, I was talking with my coworker about how her son plays it and she watches. She explained to me that it was a survival game. You have to kill people not on your team, and you have to stay within the play circle, otherwise you are killed. Plus, you build forts and stuff. I wanted to try it, but knew my fiance had something called PUBG, which is very similar. Just minus the fort building and the kid cuteness. **

**Okay, so I played it, and I think I just about had a heart attack.**

**GUYS! Everyone is trying to kill you, and you have no idea where they are. I was moving my view around so much that I was started to panic; I could feel the anxiety creep up my body. It was horrible, absolutely horrible. **

**So, the answer to this question is ****_The Hunger Games_**** universe. Through playing PUBG, I have come to appreciate Katniss and Peeta's situation even more so. I was about to explode just from playing it as a computer game, I couldn't imagine going through that in real life. I would literally panic every second of every day, and then I would die of a heart attack. SO STRESSFUL!**


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: Just a reminder to follow myyyyyyyy various pages if you like my stuff:**

**Pinterest Name: ARosySummer: A Writer (Same pic as FF profile)**

**Instagram: ****ARosySummer**

**That is all for now, on with the story :) **

**XXX**

The snap of the door was so resounding that it echoed in my mind for a few more seconds before I could register what had happened.

I'd made him uncomfortable, gotten under his skin when he wasn't even expecting it.

It took me a while to fall asleep after that. Both in part because it was still a bit light outside, and Sasuke left without even looking back at me. That thought alone was torture. Imagining the types of looks crossing his face plagued my mind as I lay my head against the pillow.

Yuko came in at some point during the night, but I shut my eyes quickly after seeing her and pretended to be asleep. She tutted around the room, smoothing over my blankets, pulling them up closer to my chin. Her small hand even went over my forehead for a few seconds before she pulled it away, walking out of the room with the door shutting behind her.

Although, not a minute later the door opened again. Yuko must've forgotten something, so I just kept my eyes shut.

But, the bed shifted, a new weight placed upon it. It was hard to keep my eyes shut, but after more time went by and nothing happened I couldn't help but crack them open a sliver, gazing through my eyelashes.

Sasuke stared down at me, the moonlight casting hard shadows against his face as it came in through the window. It was difficult to make out his expression, though. Too hard to get a glimpse of his eyes.

I shut mine fully then. No, I did not want to talk about it right now, the timing wasn't correct. He had just left without explanation earlier today, so I highly doubted that he would be willing to open up about it only a few hours later.

So, what did he want?

We stayed still for I don't know how long. I kept my breathing steady as I waited for him to do something. Anything.

Just when I thought all he was going to do was sit with me, his hand reached out and brushed my hair aside, his fingers lightly tracing over my cheek as he did so.

It took everything I had to not open my eyes, to not make my breath hitch at the touch.

His hand lingered at the side of my head for a few more seconds before he took it back.

He left then, his weight lifting from the bed.

I cracked my eyes open, but he'd already gone, leaving so quickly and silently that I hadn't even heard the door shut.

My hand rose to where he'd touched my cheek. My heart felt like it was going to beat out of my chest it was so loud from thinking about it.

He'd touched me. I had not expected such a light caress from him.

Obviously he had to touch me while we sparred, but those touches were of a different kind. They were rough, calculated, done out of necessity to teach me.

But this, this was not out of necessity.

This was done out of...concern?

I bit the inside of my cheek as the thought flashed before my mind. Sasuke was a vampire. Vampires killed people, drank their blood in order to sustain their own. They were monsters, completely horrific beings that plagued dreams, turning them into nightmares.

And yet-

Sasuke had proven me wrong on so many occasions. I would be foolish to not admit it. Not see that he was not a monster, even though he had told me that's all he wanted me to see him as. How could I do that after everything I'd bore witness to while staying here?

He was making me stronger. The workers here were all on the same page, saying that Sasuke saved their lives. He had genuinely worried about me when he was unable to get into the cave, the guilt of his mistake clear in his actions, clear on his face. Even though it would have been easier to force his blood on me in order to heal, he respected my wishes and gave me a healing drought instead.

And I'd witnessed him feeding, making sure to not kill the woman after he drank her blood. He even helped her sit down afterward.

I flipped over and stared out the window, laying on my left side.

All my life, I'd been told one thing. All vampires were evil and they needed to be killed.

But how was I supposed to believe that when I had the very distinct face of Sasuke floating around in my mind, and all of the good things he's done.

Did that mean that there were others like him that were out there?

Maybe they made up the majority of the vampire population, and we just didn't know it. They could be hiding it all so well.

My nose scrunched up at the thought. No, that couldn't be it. If the world was crawling with good vampires, then why haven't they shown themselves? Why haven't they joined in our cause of taking out the evil vampires?

But, would we even let them if it was possible?

I couldn't see my sister working side by side with a vampire. It would most likely end in a bloodbath rather than work harmoniously.

I tapped my fingers against the top of the blanket, measuring each tap evenly, and I sighed. None of that mattered, it wasn't going to happen anyway. I needed to figure out Sasuke for now, then tackle the rest of the world.

XXX

The feeling of movement woke me. I opened my eyes to see Suigetsu carrying me in the early morning. The sun had yet to rise, though it was about to within the next couple hours due to the sky's lightening.

I shoved out of his hold and fell to the ground, a bag that had been resting on my stomach landed next to me with a thud. "What the hell?"

He put his hands up, palms facing out as I scrambled to my feet.

"Hey, don't look at me like that," he said. "Just doing my job."

"Your _job_? What exactly does that mean?" I looked around, the land looking more and more familiar with each sweep of the trees, the rocks, the grass. "Where...where are we?"

He gave me a calculated look. "Don't you know?"

I turned around, looking in the direction where Suigetsu had been walking. In the distance, I could see it. I saw the structures I'd grown up with. I saw my home.

"Wh-"

"Since you're awake now," he said, "I'll be going."

My head whipped around. "No you don't! What's going on? Where's Sasuke?"

He halted before he turned around completely. "Sasuke told me to take you back to Konoha."

I stopped breathing, my body completely flushing with an anxious heat. "What?"

He wore a guilty expression. "Sorry."

Then he vanished.

**XXX**

**Please don't kill meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! *Cowers in corner awaiting the anxious reviews* ****Sorry, it's a shorter one today!**

**Thank you to SarahMarie for your wonderful reviews! I can't respond to you directly, so Imma respond to you here. :) Yesssss, I love that about him, that he wants to build her up, that he sees her as an equal rather than someone to just sit on the sidelines as he protects her and takes the glory. Sasuke's got a lot going on, and more of that will definitely be revealed in time! And you're right, it's totally their loss, bunch of butts for not hiring me. Thank you for your kind words about my writing and everything, they make me feel a lot better :) The universe does have a different path for me, I just have to keep tutting along and everything will fall into place. You write fanfic? Ahhh that's great :) How come you comment as a guest then? I'd love to see your stuff! **

**Q: I****f you could only eat one meal for the rest of your life, what would it be?**

**A: Okay, so this one may sound weird to a lot of you! My favorite meal is a family recipe. We call it noodles and tomatoes. It consists of elbow macaroni noodles, tomato juice (Specifically, the juice that comes in the whole peeled tomato cans. You need to open the can almost completely, but then drain the juices into the pot of cooked noodles. Forget the actual tomatoes. My fiance gets really upset about that XD), butter, salt and pepper. **

**If you want to try it: Cook the noodles, drain and rinse, melt the butter and put the noodles back in the pot. Add the tomato sauce and salt and pepper. Cook until warm-hot. **

**We usually make like a whole pot, which means to use a 32 oz box of noodles and then like five or six cans of whole peeled tomatoes. **

**Dude, I love it, I would eat it for every meal every dang day. **


	18. Chapter 18

I stared at the spot where Suigetsu had just been for a few more seconds before I started swiping my hands at the empty air.

"Are you freaking kidding me, Sasuke?" I yelled. "You think it's okay to tell your friend to dump me off in the middle of the night? Not even having the guts to do it yourself?!"

Oh was I pissed.

That's his solution? To just push me away the second I got too close to him?

I snatched up the fallen bag and marched the rest of the way home, the fabric bunched under the pressure of my tight fist. My eyes kept ahead of me the whole time, gaze hooked squarely on the large gate getting nearer with each step.

I felt it the moment I stepped beyond the village's barrier, felt the slight give as it let me pass. Even though I'd been gone for so long, it would always recognize me and let me in. Let me come home.

The walk was quiet, no one stirred along the streets as I walked them, my body taking the familiar path to my house.

It wasn't long before the front yard came into view, and my numb walk turned into an all out sprint. However, I stopped when my hand wrapped around the handle. The coolness of it halting my movements so strangely that I could do nothing but stare down at it.

I was really home. This wasn't some sort of trick, I was really, really home.

He'd let me go.

After all that time of begging him, why did he choose now to finally listen?

I took my hand off the knob, my fingers splaying open as if still caging the cool metal in a cage.

I took a step back.

I took a breath.

What was the reason? Why now?

Pounding footsteps made me turn around, focusing on the blonde racing down the street and straight at me, arms encircling me into a tight hug.

"You're alive," Tsunade said over and over again, her voice bubbling out and breaking the silence dawn brought upon the village.

It took me a second, but then I hugged her back, eyes pricking at the corners. "Yeah, I'm okay."

She pushed me away from her, eyeing me up and down, inspecting me for injuries or anything else that may be out of place. "What happened to you, Sakura? How did you escape?"

"I-"

"I got your letter, and Gaara tried to do a locator spell on it even though you said it wouldn't work. We tried everything we could to find you, but nothing was working."

I nodded. "Yeah, I-"

"It was so frustrating, doing nothing. I couldn't take anymore of it, I had to do _something-_"

"Hey," I snapped, interrupting her tirade; she watched me in stunned silence. "Are you going to let me explain or what?"

She bit the inside of her cheek, but nodded. It was weird to see her to animated, so talkative. We had such a low experience rate of conversing, so my disappearance must've really shook her.

I turned and walked over to the hanging bench on the far end of the porch. Tsunade followed close behind.

It was there that I told her everything. Well, almost everything.

Some parts I kept to myself, like the way Sasuke looked at me sometimes, or the way he was a soothing presence.

Or how he came to me while I pretended to sleep and touched my cheek.

No, those pieces were all mine.

But, I had no problem talking about the training, the boredom I'd find myself in when there was nothing to do, and the cave full of vampires.

A look of worry mixed with pride flashed across her features when I told her how I'd killed all three of them by myself.

"And then, he let me go," I finished, flexing my fingers against the tops of my thighs.

"Let you go?" she asked. "Why would he do that?"

I shook my head. Words were unable to leave me.

"You must know of his location then if you left?" she hedged then. "Could you lead us to him?"

"No," I said. "He had an associate drop me off while I was out of it. I woke up not too far from the gate, so I wouldn't be able to lead anyone anywhere."

She mulled that over, her eyes slightly narrowing as she looked just to the right of my face.

The door opened and out walked mom. She was still in her pajamas and she walked a few steps straight out. She held her arms close to her body with her hands, took a deep breath through her nose and looked to the sky, the scattered clouds above now coating the sky in a bright orange and pink mixture.

I shifted my weight to stand, and at the slightest creek, her head snapped over in our direction. As her eyes fell on me, they filled with tears, and her mouth hung open in surprise. "Sakura?"

I stood fully then, taking the few steps in her direction and hugging her. She hugged me back, her arms wrapping around me in a vice like grip, slow sobs escaped her as she repeated my name.

Tears did fall from my eyes then. I'd missed her, and as soon as I saw her a relief washed over me. I was home, I was with my family again.

XXX

After talking for longer with the two of them together, I told them I needed some privacy, that I would be in my room for a bit. They both looked nervous, as if leaving their sights for even a second would be all the time needed for me to disappear again.

I gave them both a half grin, grabbed the bag Sasuke had given me, and then walked down the hall to my room.

I shut the door behind me, leaning my forehead against the familiar wood. The bag dropped from my hand, thudding against the floor, the sound echoing around the small space. I glanced down at it, leaving my forehead against the solidity of the door as I did so.

It was something that I didn't want to open, the last piece that Sasuke left me with. I already knew what it most likely was, but a large part of me wanted to keep the bag shut, keep that part of my life tucked away.

A sigh escaped me and I turned against the door, sliding against it with my back until I reached the floor. I plucked the bag up and set it in my lap, pulling the top flap back to reveal the Eye of Amavi within the otherwise empty bag.

I couldn't help it: I rolled my eyes.

The orb felt just as it always did as I picked it up, the smoky swirls dancing beneath the glass before Sasuke's face appeared.

My thumb ran over the smooth surface, right over his face.

Even though I'd never been in there before, I remembered the bits and pieces of what I got a glimpse of that one time Sasuke had taken me to his living quarters. So, it took me a few seconds to figure out that he was in his bedroom, sitting on the edge of his bed, his hands clasped tightly in front of him, his back and head bent over a bit.

I couldn't see his face completely, which annoyed me greatly. Every time Sasuke seemed to be having some sort of emotional struggle, he hid his face. Why not once, just once, could he let me see what he was feeling?

A slight groan escaped me as I went to put the orb back in the bag, but my hand stilled at seeing the small note tucked away at the bottom, hidden by the orb before.

I replaced the paper with the orb, and then shoved the bag underneath my bed.

Unfolding the page, I saw Sasuke's scratchy handwriting.

_Sakura,_

_I know you are most likely upset with me, but trust that I have my reasons. _

_Be safe. _

_Sasuke_

I stared at the note, and then I flipped it over just in case I'd missed anything on the other side. Nope, completely blank.

That was it?

That's all that he had to say for himself?

He takes me away, unwilling to bend in my pleas to go home on the preface that I train with him and grow stronger. Then right after I get hurt, he has Suigetsu dump me off at home without another word?

What the hell was that all about?

I crushed the paper in my fist, crinkling it completely into a ball. I threw the damn thing under my bed, right next to the bag.

I never wanted to look at either thing he'd left me with again.

A scoff escaped me.

Reasons? What reasons did he have for pulling me any which way he wanted, whichever way was most convenient for him?

Whatever reasons he thought made sense were complete crap. Yes, I was happy to be home, but I wasn't happy with how it happened. I was not some doll to throw around on a whim. He had no right to cast me aside without even having the guts to face me, to talk with me about it.

He was a coward.

He broke apart my world, crumbled the foundations of everything I'd ever known.

He made me break my own rules, and it hurt.

He hurt me.

XXX

**Sasuke, what a dummy! -_-**

**To angelicfrosty: Oh yes, haha don't count Itachi out yet! He is definitely going to be coming back. :) **

**Q: What are your hobbies?**

**A: Soooo aside from reading and writing, I would have to say playing video games. :) Some of my favs include the Legend of Zelda series, the Paper Mario series, Pokemon, Star Fox (GC), Smash, Mario Kart...hmmmmm I'm pretty sure there's something I'm forgetting, but these are the big ones! I can replay them any time, love, love, love! Haha I've played Ocarina of Time so often I can prolly play it with my eyes closed. XD**


	19. Chapter 19

I had fallen asleep against the door, so when Ino banged against the wood I felt it with my whole body.

"Sakura," she called. "SAKURA! Open this door!"

Stumbling a bit, I managed to turn around and unlock it. Before I could twist the knob, Ino burst in and tackled me into a hug. She was a crying mess, clutching onto me as tightly as she could.

Her face was buried into my neck, making it impossible to distinguish anything she was saying. It was all just loud, sobbing mumbles.

But, I understood anyway.

I started crying along with her, wrapping my arms around her as I said over and over again, "I missed you."

Even with Ino though, I was unable to tell her everything about my adventure. I kept to the facts, and I did not speak about the confusion swirling around in my head where Sasuke was concerned.

"So," Ino said, "he just let you go? Seriously, just like that?"

I nodded.

She tilted her head from side to side, her eyes still puffy from all her crying. "It must mean something, but I can't think of what."

Tell me about it.

I snuck a glance under my bed at the crumpled up note Sasuke left me with. A new wave of anger came over me, but I ignored it and brought my eyes back to Ino.

Tsunade came down the hall and stood in the doorframe. She took one look at us on the floor, which made her pause for a moment, caught off guard by our location.

"Sakura, we have to go to the Hokage's office. Ino, you come, too. It's a team meeting."

I stood up, holding out a hand to help Ino get to her feet as well.

"I have to tell my story again, don't I?" I asked.

"Seems that way," Tsunade said, walking out of sight.

Ino and I followed her out the house and then down the familiar paths through the village. It felt like years had passed since last I was here, but it had only been about two months.

When we got to Kakashi's office, Naruto and Sai were waiting for us, along with Gaara, that blonde woman I saw in Sasuke's mountain base, and then another ominous looking guy with painted markings on his face. Must be some kind of mage thing.

Naruto zipped over to me and gave me a hug. Much like Ino, he too was a blubbering mess.

I gave him a warm hug in return. "I missed you, too."

Tsunade pulled him off me, and placed him on the other side of her. "Okay," she said. "Now we know that Sakura is back, she was returned to us by the vampire known as Sasuke Uchiha."

Nobody in the room looked surprised by this.

Kakashi folded his hands before him, leaning forward in his chair while giving me a steadying look. "Explain everything. Carefully."

And I did. Just not in the way that he wanted me to be careful.

He wanted me to give over everything I knew, everything that I'd gone through. Give them the secrets of their enemies, the whereabouts, the plans.

Still, I could not find it in me to give up all that I knew.

"Throughout my stay, Sasuke was nothing short of kind to me. He trained me into becoming a better fighter," I finished.

It was Gaara who made the first move as he strode forward, coming face to face with me with barely a couple feet in between us.

"Stay?" he asked. "You make it sound like a choice."

I fought back against my instinct to step away from him. I met his gaze boldly. "I wouldn't exactly call it a prison, if that's what you mean. I was not allowed to leave, but I certainly wasn't mistreated."

His eyes narrowed. "Would you say you have come to have an attachment to these vampires then?"

"What? No-"

"Then I find it very odd that when I saw you in the mountain that you were not fighting to get away from Sasuke. You did not help us to stop him from escaping. Correct me if I am mistaken, but what explanation do you have for behaving in such a manner?"

My mouth flopped open and shut.

An answer didn't come to me right away, but then I finally said, "He was taking me to the sun bomb. Why wouldn't I go with him?"

He stepped even closer. "Then where is it?"

I shook my head.

"He showed it to you, took you to its location, and you did not seize it from him? Why?"

I thought back on it, on that night he brought me down deep below the ground. That small room had been closing in on me and I needed to get out of there. I had been scared, so scared that I just needed to run.

"Enough, Gaara," Tsunade snapped, placing herself between us, her forearm pushing against his chest.

He gave her a steely look before his eyes crawled back to me. "Did you at least bring back anything at all we can use to track him down?"

I cut a glance over his shoulder to look at Kakashi before looking back at him. "No. There's nothing that I can give you to track him."

He was dissatisfied with my answer, I could tell by the look on his face, but Kakashi gave a slight cough, cutting off any further questioning he may have had for me.

"Sakura," Kakashi said. "Thank you for sharing with us all that you have gone through. I'm sure you want to take it easy, stay in the village for a while now that you're back." He turned his attention onto Tsunade then. "You and your team won't be getting any missions taking you out of the village anytime soon, Tsunade."

She bowed her head, dipping it slightly and closing her eyes in answer.

"You may go," he said, to which my team and I left while Gaara and the other two remained.

XXX

Tsunade lead us to the training ground after I suggested getting some sparring in. She looked at me doubtfully, but I was able to convince her that it was what I really wanted.

I looked over at Sai. This time was going to be different, it was going to end in my victory. Though, he had a funny look on his face, as if he was deep in thought.

It occurred to me that it must have been overwhelming to hear about his distant relative being a vampire. Here he was, a hunter, sworn to kill them, and yet it was a member of his own family. I wonder if that gave him reason to pause.

Sasuke had already given me plenty of reasons to pause, to think about the intricacies of hunter and vampire relations, so I could only imagine that Sai was going through something similar.

"Sakura, you're nuts," Naruto said. "Only a crazy person would want to jump right in after being a captive for so long."

I cut him a look. "I'm not crazy. I want to show you what I learned."

He shrugged his shoulders and got into a defensive position. Ino and Sai did the same.

Tsunade looked at us all before saying "Begin."

I took a deep breath through my nose and pushed off towards Sai. I was so much faster than before, and he was caught off guard.

I punched him right in his stomach, and then pushed my other fist up to collide with his jaw. His head snapped back so fast, and then he collapsed on the ground. I just made sure he was still breathing before dashing off toward the other two.

Naruto saw me from the corner of his eye, but it was too late. I let out a kick to his side, turned my body around and then followed it with a punch to the side of his face.

I took one look at Ino before she held her hands up in defeat.

Tsunade appeared beside me, her eyes slightly larger than normal. "When you said he trained you, he really _trained _you."

I couldn't help the smile that came over my lips, feeling pride in the acknowledgement. "Want to test me for yourself?" I asked her, hungry to see how well I matched up against her.

She stared at me silently. Honestly, it was surprising that she was even considering it at all. I would have thought it'd be a quick dismissal from her.

A few more heavy seconds went by before she shook her head. "Get Sai and Naruto to the hospital. Hopefully they won't be out for too long." Then she disappeared.

I sighed. Someday I was going to fight her, and when that day finally came, I was going to win.

Ino let out a low whistle. "You were fierce before, Sakura, but now you're...I don't know how to even explain it. It's like you've been turned into a weapon yourself or something."

I rolled my wrists. "I like that."

She blanched a bit, but then made her way over to Sai's side. "I'm just glad you're on our side. I wouldn't want to find you in a dark alley."

We brought Naruto and Sai to the hospital like Tsunade said, and then we walked back home. Ino hugged me again when we got to my house before she waved and kept walking down the street toward her own house.

It was weird to be alone again, and I found that thoughts of Sasuke came to me quickly without anything to distract myself.

I remembered the way his brow would furrow when he was concentrating on something. I saw the way our bodies moved in a spar that made it seem like more of a dance sometimes than an actual fight. I heard his voice as it rumbled through the silence, the way it wrapped around me with every syllable.

I groaned.

Sasuke was still with me even though we were apart. Even though I was unable to walk down his familiar halls again and see him lounging on one of his living room sofas.

He had got into my head, and he was there to stay.

I paced through the house and then into my room, only one thing on my mind. I had to look at the Eye of Amavi, I had to see Sasuke again.

Was this why he gave it to me in the first place? Did he know that I would want to see him after he forced me out?

I shoved open the door and crouched down on my hands and knees, grabbing the bag and yanking it out. Dust came with it, swirling in the air.

Something was wrong though, the bag wasn't as heavy as it had been before.

I threw the top open and scoured the inside with my hands and eyes. Empty, it was completely empty.

I looked under the bed, but it wasn't there either.

And neither was Sasuke's note.

**XXX**

**Thank you to all who read, review, fav, follow, etcccccccc. You guys are amazing, I love you all :D **

**To angelicfrosty: Thank ya very much! I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well, things are starting to pick back up again. The plot train has left the station, choo choo! XD**

**Q: ****How often do you buy clothes?**

**A: Not enough! I am not loving anything in my closet, you guys. Not a single thing. With Spring now here, it is looking more and more likely that I am overdue for a shopping spree. Haha not really a hard question this time. XD**


	20. Chapter 20

**Follow me on Instagram: ARosySummer**

**Follow me on Pinterest: ****ARosySummer: A Writer**

**Follow me on Wattpad: ****A_Rosy_Summer**

**XXX**

I found my mom in the kitchen. She was wiping down the table with a wet rag.

"Was somebody here?" I asked in a rush.

She looked up, startled, but then mulled my question over. "No, nobody knocked, it's just been me ever since you girls left for your meeting."

I couldn't stop the growl from escaping me as I barreled down the hallway and out the front door.

My legs pumped furiously as I cascaded through the streets. There was only one person who would possibly take my things without telling me.

Finally making it back to Kakashi's office, I threw the doors open. "Where's Gaara?" I demanded.

Kakashi had the good graces to look a little nervous when he saw me. "Sakura."

I waved him off. "Tell me where he is. He took my stuff."

Kakashi rose an eyebrow. "And why is it that this stuff is so important to you?"

My tongue froze, lips unable to form the words.

"Ah," he said, rising from his seat. "Understand, Sakura, that you lied when saying there was nothing in your possession that could lead him to Sasuke Uchiha."

"I didn't lie," I said. "I just didn't think they could be of any use." It was a weak argument. He knew it. I knew it.

Kakashi looked at me skeptically, but did not speak further on the matter. "You are to remain in the village until further notice. If you do not comply with this then expect consequences."

I glared at him, and then I left without saying anything further, slamming the door behind me.

Stomping out of there and back into the fresh air, I took a deep breath.

I needed a witch, and I needed one fast.

XXX

I stopped by the house to pick up a map and the bag Sasuke left me with. It was not mine to begin with, so it should also lead me to him with a locator spell. That was the hope, anyway.

Faster than I've ever moved before, I sought out Naruto at his favorite ramen shop. Typically, I could find him there any given night, and thankfully I wasn't wrong. There he was, sitting on one of the stools and slurping down a steaming bowl of noodles.

I grabbed his shoulder and swiveled him around. His eyes were wide and a bunch of noodles hung out of his mouth, the hot broth dripping onto his shirt.

"Phey!" he said.

"I need a witch," I pushed on. "Where can I find one?"

He slurped up the rest of the noodles and licked his lips. "How am I supposed to know that?"

I rolled my eyes. "Don't pretend you don't have some sort of fascination with them. I know you've been sneaking around with someone trying to do your own magic, and I want to know who."

He sat up straighter. "How...how did you-?"

"There's no time." I waved him off. "Help me get to a witch, I need to find someone."

Naruto's eyes dropped to the brown bag clutched in my hands. "All right, all right, I'll take ya."

My fist wrapped around his shirt and I yanked him out onto the street with me. "Where?"

He knocked my hand off of him. "Easy there, idiot! Sheesh."

He took off at a jogging pace, and he wouldn't speed up even after my incessant yelling at him to do so. I was almost ready to kill him for taking so long when we finally made it to an abandoned looking building, weeds overgrowing out front, cracks running up the concrete walls.

"What is this place?" I asked.

Naruto cocked a grin and then opened the door. When I walked in, I was surprised to see Hinata sitting in the middle of a sparsely furnitured room, books open before her.

She stood up in shock. "Sakura...I didn't...didn't know you were coming."

Naruto shook his head. "She wasn't going to, but nearly killed me just to find her a witch." He stood behind Hinata, cowering away from me. "Please do what she says, Hinata, she's crazy!"

I rolled my eyes at his dramatics. How in the world Hinata of all people was a witch was beyond me. Hailing from the mighty Hyuga clan made her a hunter legacy. If her father were to find out about this, she would be disowned.

I never thought she would be so...brave.

Even though she was apprehensive, Hinata said, "What do you need?"

I thrust the bag in her direction. "Find me the owner of this bag. Find me Sasuke Uchiha."

Both she and Naruto stared at me with wide eyes and open mouths. Hinata's hand twitched by her side, but she did not make a move to take the outstretched bag.

"Please," I begged, stepping forward while still holding out the bag. "Please help me. He's in trouble, I need to find him."

She sucked in her bottom lip and looked down at the floor, her fingers fiddling with the bottom of her shirt.

I held my breath as I watched her consider.

Naruto put his hand on her shoulder. "Hey, I think you should help her." His tone was soft, genuine, but then it turned back into that harsh, clumsy drawl I could pick out from a mile away. "Besides, I think she'd just hurt us until she gets what she wants, the lunatic."

I sneered at him, but amazingly Hinata's hand lifted and her fingers wrapped around the brown fabric.

"Could you lay the map out for me on the ground?" she asked.

I did as instructed, smoothing out the creases against the cool flooring.

Hinata knelt before the map, keeping a tight grip on the bag in one hand and then reaching over to some supplies to her left. Various jars lay near each other poking out of a large round bag. She fiddled with a few different ones, crushing the contents between her hands as she spoke in a different tongue.

She opened her fingers one by one and let the broken items fall over the bag, and then she smacked her hands on top of it, fingers splaying out wide.

I gasped when she opened her eyes and they were glowing a bright purple. She was looking at me, but it felt more like she was looking through me, like she was all seeing in that moment and not even present at all.

Slowly, the bits and pieces began to travel from the bag and onto the map. I leaned over as they moved in a straight line across the paper, across the various drawn in landmarks of mountains and rivers.

They finally stopped moving, collecting atop a point not too far from here. I'd be able to get there in about an hour while running.

Hinata's eyes faded back to normal and she studied the map as well. But, I snatched it and the bag up before anything else could happen.

"Thank you," I said, and then ran out without looking back.

XXX

My body went numb after a while. The run was long, but my mind was not on it. It was on the various scenarios at which my brain conjured up for when I would arrive at my destination.

What would I find?

Would Sasuke be there, standing over a dead Gaara?

Would Gaara be there, standing over a dead Sasuke?

The sharp inhale at the thought was the only deviation from my breathing rhythm.

Everything whipped past me. I moved right, following the map, ducking under low hanging branches, jumping over large, encroaching roots.

I checked down at the paper once more. I was close, almost there now.

My body lurched to a stop when I made it to a clearing, the trees parting suddenly to reveal the large grassy area.

Standing there was Suigetsu, wearing a shocked expression as he stared back at me. "What are you doing here?"

I marched over to him, clutching the map in my hand, the paper crinkling from the force. "No, what are _you_ doing here?" I craned my head around, looking all about the area. "Where's Sasuke? I had a locator spell done on his stupid bag, so where is he?"

Suigetsu's face scrunched in confusion, his eyes traveling to the empty bag slung over my shoulders. "That's not Sasuke's bag, it's mine."

Hot dread filled me, my whole body seemed to blanch. "What?"

He shrugged. "Sasuke told me to get a bag, so I did."

"This isn't happening," I said. "Where's Sasuke then? He's in danger."

He threw his hands up. "Look, I was given specific orders not to bring you back to him. Got my butt handed to me last time I did it, he'd probably go right and kill me if I did it again."

"Didn't you hear what I said? He's in trouble! Gaara took the things he gave me and is on his way to Sasuke right now."

Suigetsu looked to the side, his weight shifting onto his other leg. "Look, Sasuke's going to be fine, he's been running from people his entire life."

I shook my head. "This is different. They finally have something that will lead directly to him."

He rolled his eyes. "Whatever, he'll be fine. Now get out of here."

I eyed him carefully. He seemed to be fidgeting, and he wanted me to leave in a hurry. "What are you doing here anyway?"

He threw his hand out, exasperated. "Nothing, just get outta here."

I stood strong. "No, I'm not leaving until I know what's going on."

He shifted his eyes again. "Seriously? All these years of our friendship and this is how you act? Don't you trust me by now?"

I put up my fingers and ticked them off. "One, I've only known you for like two months. And two, no, I do not trust you."

He sighed. "Don't make me fight you."

"Like I'd let you get the better of me a second time."

He just groaned. "You know what, it's not my fault you're so annoying. Let Sasuke deal with his own mess for once."

I perked up. "You're taking me to him?"

"No. I'm just not going to stop your ass from following me when I leave. I don't get paid enough to deal with this."

"Do you even get paid at all?" I asked.

He went silent and turned his back on me. "Just shut up and stand back."

As he moved, I saw a short stone pedestal that lay behind him. I shuffled to the side to keep it in my sight.

Suigetsu took a vial containing dark liquid out from his pocket. He looked into the sky, noting the full moon before he uncorked and poured the liquid over the stone, it pooled in the center before fanning out, slowly making its way to the edge.

"What is that?" I asked.

He shot me a look over his shoulder, but then turned his attention back to the liquid. "It's blood. Demon blood, and apparently Sasuke had a bitch of a time in getting it. I had to pour it over this thing at midnight for it to work."

The blood started to change colors from the deep red to a bright blue, and then all of it seeped into the stone itself.

It cracked, the stone yawning open in the middle where most of the blood had accumulated.

Suigetsu reached down and plucked out a smooth bluish white stone, looking very similar to the sun stone that Sasuke showed me so long ago.

"Is that...a moon stone?"

Suigetsu nodded, pocketing it as if it were nothing special.

And then he was running.

I flinched before taking off after him. "I thought you said I could follow you?"

He didn't look back at me as he answered, just kept sprinting ahead. "I said I wouldn't stop you, but I am definitely not going to help you." I could hear the deviousness in his voice as he took a sharp turn to the right.

I careened forward, missing the turn and having to double back.

We ran like that for a while. Suigetsu definitely kept to his promise of not making this trip easy for me, but I kept on his tail as best I could. Even though he was getting farther and farther ahead of me, I could still catch the sight of his white hair cutting around corners.

The route he took brought us around the side of a high, jagged cliff. The trees thinned out, and then there was an expanse of fields and a nearby lake shimmering in the moonlight.

The sounds of fighting filled the air, and I couldn't help but stand completely still as I took in the sight before me.

Everyone was paired off in battles. Sasuke was fighting that woman companion of Gaara's, a woman with shocking red hair was fighting Gaara himself, and then a large individual was fighting the man with paint on his face.

Suigetsu joined the fight immediately, jumping in to help Sasuke as he was the one nearest us.

Sasuke gave a brief look to his left when Suigetsu jumped in, and then he did a double take as he had obviously spotted me hanging around the outskirts of the area.

Our eyes locked, and I felt time stop then. Everything else faded away, and all I could focus on was his face.

But then the woman had gotten around Suigetsu, a blade flashing in the dark as she sliced right through Sasuke's abdomen.

**XXX**

**No Q&A today from me, I just want to mini rant about my day tomorrow (Sunday). **

**My mom and I are going to see Avenger's Endgame! AHHHHHHHHHH I'm so freaking PUMPED! Who else is excited!? Please, no spoilers if you've already seen it! :O **


	21. Chapter 21

I took a step forward at seeing the blade stick from Sasuke's body. The woman who stabbed him seemed surprised to have landed a hit like that, but she only hesitated for a brief time. Her fist lashed out towards Sasuke's heart, no doubt prepared to rip it right from his chest.

Sasuke turned a furious look on her, grasping her fist as if it were nothing. He gripped the blade's hilt and pulled it from him, unfazed. He threw the dagger to the ground, the sharp edge biting deep into the dirt beside him. His now empty fist whipped out, connecting with her cheek, snapping her head to the side so suddenly that her eyes were only able to spot me before they shut.

I started running towards them then, but Sasuke appeared before me in the next instant.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, his eyes wide in anger.

I looked behind him at the fallen hunter. "Did you…"

It must have taken everything he had to not roll his eyes, I knew he wanted to do so. "No, she's just passed out. You should not be here."

He reached his hand out to grab hold of my arm, but I batted it away.

"What the hell is your problem?" I asked, my voice steadily getting louder until I was eventually shouting. "I came all this way for you, stupid. I came here because I was worried, because I thought you were going to die."

He kept looking at me, though I was unable to stare back.

In my attempt to not look at him, I saw Suigetsu over his shoulder. He was watching us lightly, but mostly he was turning his head to the other fights going on nearby. Gaara and the redhead were attacking each other fervently still, though I could see the woman start to pant.

"Who are these people?" I asked.

Sasuke kept his eyes on me; he did not turn around. "Those with me are Suigetsu, Karen, and Jugo."

"What are you all doing here anyway?" I had been expecting to be somewhere near Sasuke's house rather than this random spot in the woods.

He was silent for a few seconds, considering what he should or should not reveal to me. "Sakura, it's happening tonight."

_What _was happening? He let me mull it over undisturbed, and then it came to me. I looked directly at him then. "You're going to be able to walk in the sunlight after tonight."

He nodded, a guarded expression coating his face.

I didn't know what to say. It was finally happening. I knew what this meant to Sasuke, and I knew what it would mean for the hunter world.

And I couldn't find it in me to want to stop him from completing the ritual.

Tsunade was going to kill me.

A sudden cry had Sasuke whipping his head around.

Karen lay collapsed upon the ground at Gaara's feet. She was not moving aside from the shallow breaths her chest gave away.

Sasuke did not face me as he said, "Do not interfere. Stay here on your own, or so help me I will make you." He took off then, running at Gaara so quickly that it was hard for even my trained eyes to follow.

Gaara and Sasuke clashed in a flurry of attacks, weapons and fists flying in the fray. Suigetsu went to join that Jugo in his fight against Gaara's painted companion.

I stood still for about ten seconds before I threw off Sasuke's warning.

Sasuke just gave Gaara a kick to the chest, sending him reeling back, his feet skidding along the ground, leaving a trail behind.

I was close enough then for Sasuke to fully register my presence. Before I could get in between the two of them to stop their fighting, Sasuke yanked on my arm, whipping me back so quickly that I almost fell.

"I told you to stay," he barked, pulling up to his full height, casting a shadow over me.

My back straightened. I was not, _was not_, going to back down.

"Damnit, Sasuke, let me help. You're the one who taught me, you know what I can do. Just let me do it!"

He gave me a speculative look, but didn't have time to comment further as Gaara came racing in. Sasuke shoved off to meet him, unsheathing his sword in the process, the twin blade to my own.

I pushed the thought of my sword to the side, I would think about asking for it back from him later. For now, I had to put a stop to this.

I ran to them again, and this time Sasuke grabbed me around my middle and hoisted me along with him as he bounded far away, giving us a wide range from Gaara.

He set me down and dashed back.

Well, he couldn't get rid of me that easily.

I ran back.

The two of them were a ways away, but it wasn't until now that I found it odd for Gaara to be doing so much hand to hand combat. How come he didn't cast any spells in his fight against Sasuke?

Unless…

I looked to Karin, who had begun moving only a little bit, slowly gaining her senses back.

Maybe she had something to do with it.

Whatever the reason, this had to stop quickly. I didn't want to think about how the fight would go with Gaara's powers back at full tilt.

My muscles ached from all the sprinting, but I pushed them on. I was closing the gap, I could get there in a few more seconds.

Gaara was closest to me, and his eyes turned in my direction. He held up his hand to Sasuke while giving me a confused look. "Why do you keep trying to stop us?"

I halted a few steps away from him, panting. My eyes searching his before they fell on Sasuke's approaching figure.

Gaara stepped around me, holding up a dagger to my throat as he held my left wrist in his firm grip. I could feel his ragged breaths hit the back of my neck as the cool metal cut into the skin under my jaw.

Sasuke was looking right at me, right into my eyes. His own were wide with shock, his body jilted to a halt unnaturally.

"Ah," Gaara breathed. "I thought so. I knew you were lying about not having something that could lead me to Sasuke Uchiha, and now I certainly know why."

Even though it made the blade cut more into my skin, the biting metal making a drip of blood slide down my neck, I still spoke. "You went into my house, went into my room. You had no right-"

"Turns out I did have a right though, didn't I? You are a hunter of Konoha, and this is how you repay your village? By siding with them?" By his disgusted tone it was clear who he meant.

Sasuke remained frozen, as if any movement from him would make Gaara slice through me completely.

Behind me, Gaara let out a shaky laugh. "I can't believe this. What, did you actually think that a vampire could truly care for someone?" He then brought his lips closer to my ear. "Sasuke Uchiha only cares if you live or die because he can so easily manipulate you into doing whatever he wants. You're just another weapon for him to wield. Even now, he's only worried that I'll kill his only standing connection to his old village. A hunter on the inside who can feed him secrets."

"That's not…"

That couldn't be true. I know Sasuke, we spent all that time together. I saw him be gentle, be understanding and worried.

But could just a couple months really be all I needed to trust someone that much? To trust a vampire?

I looked at him.

He stood up straight, a cocky smirk gracing his lips. "Took you long enough to catch on, Gaara. What gave me away?"

So, it was true. Sasuke had put on an act just so I would do what he wanted.

He was over a hundred years old. I was a fool to think that our short time together mattered to him like it had mattered to me.

It was like I could feel the insides of me break, could feel the stutter of my heart as it realized the truth.

Sasuke did not care one ounce for me.

Not at all.

**XXX**

**Alas, poor poor Sakura :( **

**Q: ****Would you rather have a horrible job, but be able to retire comfortably in 10 years or have your dream job, but have to work until the day you die?**

**A: EASY! I would rather have my dream job of being an author. I would love to write for the rest of my lifeeeeeeeeeee. 3 How about you all? what would you say?**

**Heyyyyy, remember to follow me on my sites:**

**Instagram: A_Rosy_Summer**

**Pinterest: ARosySummer: A Writer**

**Thank you to those of you who have already done so! I love you all :D **


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N: YOU GUYS! Thanks for all the love you're giving for this story! :) And, I thought I'd start telling you now that I have finished writing HTS. LE GASP! Haha I actually freaking finished a story for once! There's one more chapter after this one and then an Epilogue. AND THEN there will be another story in this world as I am making it into a series :) So don't worry, this isn't the last you'll be seeing of these characters in my little plot bunnies.**

**To guest reviewer Kurouchi: Thank you for commenting, and also thanks for reading HTS! Hmmm, we'll all just have to wait and seeeeeeeeeeee what Sasuke's up to :) **

XXX

Gaara scoffed, pulling me towards him even more, my back flush against his chest. "Told you." His words were said directly into my ear, but even then I barely registered them at all.

I stood there staring at Sasuke as he gave me a calculating look before he turned away completely, speeding away to Karin's side. His back was to us as he brought her to a standing position.

"Crap," Gaara breathed, tossing me aside.

My body fell to the ground, and I didn't do anything to stop it.

I sat there in the dirt just staring at everyone.

What was I _doing_?

I had let a vampire get to me so easily? So quickly?

What have I done?

All my life I had been taught to not trust vampires, for they are evil creatures with insatiable blood-lust. They must be put down no matter what. That is absolute.

Sasuke made me think otherwise.

He _made _me.

It had all been planned.

He planned to use me like some tool.

Even now as I stared that revelation straight in the face, the tiniest part of me was unable to accept it. I wanted to cut that piece of me out, to tear it up and bury it deep below the ground. I never wanted to feel it within me again.

But, I could not do it, I could not let it go.

So I stood and ran for them again. Sasuke did not give me another look the whole time I'd been on the ground. He did not even turn to make sure I was alive. Gaara could have killed me, and Sasuke wouldn't have noticed.

Gaara was closing the gap between him and Sasuke again, his hand held a wicked looking blade.

There was no thinking, there was no time.

I hurtled passed Gaara, pushing every ounce of strength I had into my legs as I threw myself between them, closing my eyes and stretching my arms out wide.

Gaara's blade sliced right through me, and it took a few seconds for my mind to catch up with my eyes as I looked down at the blood staining my shirt.

The pain flared up, but I shoved it down quickly, blocking it out as best I could.

Gaara looked at me in shock, and then he looked down at his blade. The surprise still on his face, as if he couldn't believe he was the one who actually did it.

Sasuke roared behind me.

xxx

Gaara never saw him coming.

Sasuke whipped around me and backhanded his face, sending him flying across the clearing.

As my legs began to wobble, about to give out on me, he scooped me up, cradling me gently to him as he dashed into the forest and away from the others.

Before setting me down, he eased the sword from my body, and I let out a cry from the pain it brought. He stuck the weapon into the ground, knelt down, and then lay me down flat against the grass.

I coughed, blood came to my lips and then trickled down to nestle against my hair. Sasuke brought his hand up to the side of my face, stroking his thumb across my cheek as he looked me in the eyes.

"You," I said, struggling to get any words out at all, my whole body burned with the effort. "You liar."

He didn't object, didn't say anything at all until, "Sakura."

Just my name on his lips, that was all it took for me to let out a sigh of relief.

He reached over to the long dagger sticking out of the ground on his left, running his open palm against the sharp side of the blade. His eyes remained on mine the entire time.

"I'm sorry," he said and shoved his wounded hand against my mouth.

He was too fast, his blood got in my mouth, sliding down my throat. I cast him a furious look, but he held his hand over my mouth still, unwilling to take it off until he was sure I had ingested some of his blood.

It came on slowly, but I could feel my strength return to me the longer we waited like that. I wrapped my fingers around his wrist and pushed, shakily at first but then I was able to lift his arm away.

"Sasuke! Why did you do that?" I asked. "How could you...you know I don't ever want to be healed by vampire blood."

He didn't say a word, instead he put his attention towards my abdomen. In one quick motion, he pushed up my shirt just high enough to see that the stab wound had completely healed over.

I smacked his hand away and shoved my shirt down. "What is the matter with you?"

He stood up, looking utterly unaffected by my words. "I now see that it's too much to ask of you to stay put. You are incapable of following directions, even when they are to protect your own life."

I stood up, too. His blood had completely healed me, and all my strength was back. I felt stronger than ever actually, but it still pissed me off to know the reason behind this miraculous recovery.

He waved me off as I opened my mouth, and he spoke before I could even get a word in.

"By now, Karin has finally cast her spell to incapacitate our enemies," he said. "The first one she used to nullify magical abilities took a lot out of her, so she has had to bide her time in order to cast another one."

So, I was correct in my earlier assessment.

"But-"

He sighed. "Sakura, I'm going back now. Please don't do anything in which you put your life in danger again. You know the consequences if you are to die with my blood in your system."

There was no need to remind me. I was fully aware that any wrong move could mean the end of my mortal existence and the beginning of my undead life as a vampire.

I cut him another angry look, but he had already turned away from me, plucking the blade from the ground.

It didn't take long for us to make it back to the clearing. Sasuke had been correct in his reasoning of Karin already taking care of everyone as Gaara and his other two companions lay in a pile off to the side.

I ran over to them. They were not dead, their breaths still coming in evenly as they lay at awkward angles. My hand came to my chest, and I was thankful that they were spared.

Suigetsu, Jugo, and Karin were all standing near each other, Sasuke slowly approaching them.

In her hands, Karin held the Sun Stone that they had stolen from Gaara and the Moon Stone that Suigetsu had acquired this evening.

I couldn't find it in me to put a stop to the ritual. It would start, and Sasuke would be able to walk in the sunlight. But, I also wasn't about to go join them, so I sat down next to the pile of unconscious bodies and watched.

My arms wrapped around my legs, pulling them in close to me. Sasuke and the rest were too far away for me to hear clearly, though I was able to catch a few words that Karin spoke, albeit they were in a completely different tongue.

Both Suigetsu and Jugo had their own role to play, bringing blades to their palms and draining their blood into a goblet. Then, Karin pulled out a vial of something else, but from the look of it, it was more blood. Whose, I had no idea, but this one must have been important because when she added it to the goblet, the whole thing began to smoke.

Sasuke took the cup from her and looked at it for a while. He then looked at his friends before him, and then finally he looked back at me. Our eyes met and I couldn't look away as he drank from the goblet.

I still couldn't believe I was sitting by and allowing this to happen.

But, I'd never personally be able to keep this from Sasuke.

I didn't think I'd have it in me to forgive myself.

**XXX**

**Q: What would you change about yourself if you could?**

**A: Hmmmm I'm going to have to say that I wish I was more confident. I wish I could just go out in the world and strut my stuff without worrying about other people's opinions. Oh man, what a less stressful life that would be! :)**


	23. Chapter 23

The sky began to lighten, going from a deep blue to hues of pink and purple, the clouds alighting slowly across the horizon.

Both Suigetsu and Jugo had left, unwilling to risk their own lives as the sun slowly came up. Karin still stood near Sasuke. She held onto a large cloak tightly in case the spell didn't work and she would need to quickly cover Sasuke to keep him from dying.

I had waited in the same spot, sitting beside the unconscious Gaara and the others, this entire time. I did not approach Sasuke and Karin, and neither of them came over by me. It was like I could see the line that divided us, drawn so clearly and painfully.

I stood up when a slash of sun washed over the land before me, steadily increasing towards Sasuke. He stared at it so completely, that I could see his widened eyes from my spot.

He looked nervous, but it had to be done.

Had to be tested.

The light continued onward, undaunted by the hammering of my heart or the way my whole body kept seizing up with every inch that the light got closer to Sasuke.

And then it was at his boots.

His shins, knees, torso, face.

The sun was shining on his face, his eyes squinting against the brilliance.

And he did not burn.

He took one look at me, and I had that moment to take in the look on his face. Happiness coated his features, an undaunting happiness that I had yet to see on him at all. For once there wasn't a smirk on his face, but rather a smile that reached his eyes.

Just as I took a step towards him, he and Karin disappeared.

xxx

**Well, my lovlies, this is it! Just the Epilogue up next. :) **

**Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to read, comment, follow or fav this story! You're support is amazing, and I cannot thank you enough. **

**Q: ****If you could hire someone to help you, would it be with cleaning, cooking, or yard work?**

**A: Cleaning! Haha I just made this point to my fiance. Like all the bickering that we do (and it's not even that much, mind you) is done because of cleaning disagreements. I swear, that will be something to fix later on, but I would love to just have someone come in like once a week to do a deep clean of our place.**


	24. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

**xxx**

Three days has passed since I last saw Sasuke.

Strangely enough, Gaara seemed to breeze over the fact that I had been there that night at all when he gave his report to Kakashi and Tsunade. At least, that's what I think happened. Tsunade told me he gave a report, but didn't say anything else that was interesting. If he told on me, I would have been getting an earful from her.

And since Gaara said nothing of my involvement, I was also off the hook with Kakashi.

As I thought on all this days after the event, I was walking through the village. Gaara came walking around the corner and halted. He gave a brief look behind him and then continued on to stand a few feet in front of me.

The silence stretched on, and it was tempting to just walk right on by rather than play this waiting game, but then he finally managed to speak.

"I'm sorry for stabbing you," he said.

"Oh, is that why you spared me from a huge inquisition? Because you almost killed me?"

He looked to the side. "It was never...I didn't mean to hurt you."

My mouth puckered. "You definitely have a funny way of showing it."

He rolled his eyes, something that reminded me so much of Sasuke that it hurt. "We're even now. Don't run off anymore to help vampires. You should have learned your lesson anyway. They don't care for humans, unless it gives them an advantage. They'll use you until you're dead, and then they'll find another."

I studied him. The way he spoke now resonated with me more. I was able to better understand his side and why he spoke that way.

"Seems to me that you're speaking from experience," I said.

He bristled, meeting my eyes head on. "I speak the truth. It's common knowledge."

I shrugged. "Just because you say something is common knowledge, does not mean that it is the truth."

There was no response from him after that, so I decided to step around him and continue on my way. I turned briefly, waving my hand once in the air. "Bye, Gaara. Have a safe trip home."

He watched me over his shoulder and scoffed. "I do not like you."

I couldn't help but laugh. "Just because I can be civil with you now, doesn't mean I feel any differently about you."

He shook his head and walked away, the faintest smile playing at the corner of his mouth.

xxx

The edge of the village came up slowly, the cemetery visible from a long ways back. I hadn't been there for many years, not since my dad died. At least, that's what my mom told me, since I didn't remember.

I pushed the gate open and walked passed row after row of stones, the names and birth and death dates marked on all, though some were fresher than others.

Near the back right hand corner was where I found him.

Kizashi Haruno.

I sank to the ground, knees laying tentatively on the grass before the stone. My fingers grazed over the letters slowly, the memory of his death that I witnessed with Sasuke burning at the front of my mind.

Even though I didn't remember my father all that well, I would appreciate snuffing the life from his murderer, Itachi Uchiha, with my own hands. He was going to pay for what he's done to my family, and for what he's done to Sasuke and his.

When my finger rounded out the 'o' in Haruno, I stared at it for a little while longer before standing.

I searched some more, and they were a lot harder to find than my father's as the lettering was more worn on these stones.

Fugaku Uchiha. Mikoto Uchiha.

And Sasuke Uchiha.

I let out a quick breath before I sat in front of the one bearing Sasuke's name. Even though I knew it was just an empty grave, it made me feel closer to him anyway.

"So, Gaara apologized, can you believe that?" I said to the stone, adjusting my position to sit cross-legged. "How come I can get an apology from that asshole, but I can't get one from you?"

I stared at the stone like it was going to answer me back.

"And you know I deserve one," I said. "I deserve a big one, Sasuke. Apologize for practically kidnapping me. Apologize for endangering me. Apologize for making Suigetsu drop me off." I took a deep breath, my lips slightly quivering. "Apologize for making me care about you in ways that I shouldn't."

I looked down at my hands, fingers flexing and then balling into fists every few seconds.

"I'm sorry for how I took you," Sasuke said, his voice right behind me.

I whirled around, my elbow catching me from falling completely on my back. I looked up into his face, though his eyes were on his own grave behind me.

"I'm sorry for putting your life at risk. I'm sorry for the manner at which I made you go home."

"Sasuke-"

He held his hand up, cutting me off.

I stood then, finding it hard to breathe with my shallow intakes.

He took his eyes from his own grave and turned to me. "And I am sorry for the way you feel about me."

I couldn't find it in me to respond directly, so I changed the topic. "What are you doing here, Sasuke?"

His head tilted to the side. "I would think you'd know an apology when you hear it, or are you simply so accustomed to not receiving them?"

I bit the inside of my cheek to halt a smile. "Jerk."

He lost the joking glint in his eyes, sobering to the situation once again. "Sakura, I am truly here to explain. I owe you as much."

My mouth remained shut as I waited for this grand explanation.

"I thought that if I feigned nonchalance at Gaara's capture of you, he would spare you from harm. I have never used you as a weapon, nor had I any intention of doing so."

I shifted my weight, and grabbed hold of my left arm with the opposite hand. "You pushed yourself into my life, Sasuke. A part of me really thought what Gaara said was true. Why else would you work so hard at creating a relationship with me? There's nothing in it for you besides my connections."

He took a step closer then, and I had to crane my neck in order to keep eye contact.

"From the moment I saw you in the hall of my mountain base, I knew I needed to talk with you, understand you better. But, that was because you are a human. I have so little interactions with your kind, and since I knew exactly who you were to begin with, it made it all the more meaningful to me.

"And then I was able to learn more about you. You have a feisty spirit and a loud mouth. You say what's on your mind regardless of any sense of tact. You're strong, and you are willing to put yourself out there.

"I didn't form a bond with you out of necessity, Sakura. I formed a bond with you because you made me feel something for the first time in a millennia. You gave me a light that hadn't been there before, and I am very grateful for that."

My eyes widened, mouth parted slightly.

I couldn't help as a lone tear rounded over my cheek. I had been so worried that he really only needed me for some secret reason. But, he was genuine, sincere in this explanation. And it made me so happy.

Sasuke brought his hand up slowly, cupping my cheek as he had done just a few days ago in the woods. His thumb brushed the tear away as he furrowed his brows, eyes darting to my lips for the briefest of moments.

I knew he was going to leave after this conversation, and it would be a while before we saw each other again. So, I couldn't help myself from standing up on my tiptoes to kiss him.

His whole body stiffened under the connection, but slowly he melted into it.

Kissing Sasuke was like tasting the sun and moon and stars all at once.

Sun.

Moon.

Stars.

And I couldn't get enough.

**xxx**

**THAT'S IT! I can't believe it T_T**

**Thank you, thank you, thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading my story. :) I especially want to thank SarahxMariexUchiha for the shout-out she gave me in her own fanfic called Unsteady. She just started it, but I really like it, so you should give it a try: **** s/13280707/1/Unsteady**

**As I've mentioned before, this isn't the end for our lovely hunter/vamp couple here. I am making this into a series, and ultimately I am going to try to get it published by replacing the names and such, so make sure to look for updates on that! :) **

**Well, until next time!**

**~ARosySummer**


End file.
